


The Feeling of Warmth

by SpringlockedSpectre



Series: [warmth] [1]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, But also, But anyway Gavin is hella bad at feelings but so is Nines so, Gavin Reed is Bad at Feelings, Hurt/Comfort, Hypothermia, I swear I'll try to give these boyes the happy ending that they deserve tho!!, I'm... not too sure what else to add at the moment, M/M, Or at least I hope it'll have a happy ending lmao, RK900 is named Nines, Self-Destruction, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Hatred, Slow Burn, Sorry m'dudes - looks like our boys have to suffer for their happy ending :(, Upgraded Connor | RK900 Is Bad at Feelings, Whump, and also, oh yeah, self-depreciation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:07:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 21,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24822835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpringlockedSpectre/pseuds/SpringlockedSpectre
Summary: No one really knew, nor cared about who Nines was.For most people at the precinct, he was just the other android. He was Not-Connor. The backup Connor. He wasn't that special, not when they had Connor.Or at least, that's what Gavin thought.(Based on"Numb Until You Earn It"byTheAsexualOfSpades)
Relationships: Hank Anderson & Connor & Upgraded Connor | RK900, Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Series: [warmth] [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1844185
Comments: 77
Kudos: 151





	1. Prologue: Numb 》 Nines

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheAsexualofSpades](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAsexualofSpades/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Numb Until You Earn It](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24458599) by [TheAsexualofSpades](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAsexualofSpades/pseuds/TheAsexualofSpades). 



> This was also beta-read by TheAsexualOfSpades, so go check her out!! She's done quite a few DBH Stories, plus a bunch of other fandoms so yeah!!

**MAY 27, 2039 - 07:59:35  
** **57** **°** **in Detroit, Michigan, 3** **° colder than yesterday**

It had been only a few days after Connor and Hank found him sitting out there in the pelting rain, and yet for Nines, it had seemed much longer. Nines had in the words of the Lieutenant _“scared the living shit out of [him]”_ and that if there were any problems that came up, to tell one of them, or even both of them. Nines filed that away into his list aptly titled, “Things I Like”. It wasn’t much, but Hank suggested to make one, just to keep his mind off of things or to keep reminding him that there were _“more reasons for him to live”_ as Hank had mumbled to him with a deep sense of… regret, maybe?

Nines does not blame the Lieutenant, nor does he blame Connor for what had happened.

If he thought about it, it was mostly his fault anyway for just not being at the optimal performance level. Maybe if he had been better, like Connor, they would have noticed him. Maybe if he had just been as friendly and approachable as Connor, people would have talked and interacted with him more often.

But Nines is not Connor, as his predecessor always reminded him. 

And so, Nines simply went through the precinct, absentmindedly rereading through the list of things that he liked, adding in a few details about why he liked them here and there.

 _Things I Like  
_ _-Connor_

Nines had always liked Connor, despite his overall, for a lack of a better term, superiority over him. Sure, Nines was the most advanced android Cyberlife ever built, his processors could handle a significantly greater amount of data, but Connor was well-liked. Connor was the one people always turned to whenever they had a problem they couldn’t fix on their own. And Nines? Nines admired his predecessor. 

His days have been better ever since Connor had decided to put Nines’s desk next to his, and he noticed that both his and Connor’s productivity rates had increased slightly even since working much closer together. It felt… nice. It felt nice to have someone who had your back, someone who would stand up for you when no one else would. Those words would best describe both Connor and Hank.

Speaking of Hank, the next item on his list was Hank.

Hank had once been one of the people who caused Nines distress, but throughout the past few days, Nines noticed the little gentle reminders that Hank left to reassure him that they were still there, and that they were there if he wanted to talk about anything. Packets of thirium whenever the Lieutenant noticed Nines was overworking himself. Pats on the back, the ruffling of his hair, or even the little congratulations whenever Nines helped solve a case. 

The little post-it notes on his usually pristine desk written in Hank’s careful hand, saying things like “great job” or “love you, son” were Nines’s favorite. 

The next thing on his list was rain.

Now, Nines never forgot what had happened to him before all the nice things came. He never forgot how the harsh Detroit wind blew against his frame, the rain drops pelting him, trying to bring him down. But despite all that, the rain was… grounding. It helped him feel like he was still there, in that moment, and that he’d still be there for a very long time. Hank had expressed his concerns about Nines going out into the rain, but Nines would just sneak out of the house for a few minutes, feel that little prick in his systems that would never go away suddenly disappear, and then come back in and take a shower. 

Connor never mentioned to Hank about how Nines’s clothes were always wet.

Nines felt a sudden _thud!_ as he slammed into Detective Gavin Reed, who had spilled his coffee on Nines’s crisp white jacket. The detective started to yell at him, but Nines did not process any of it. He had specifically set his audio sensors to only catch the voices of those he cared about: Connor, Hank, and Sumo - so that meant that whatever everyone else was saying became little murmurs that Nines could barely hear, let alone comprehend when he was in this state of mind.

He bowed his head gracefully, murmuring a soft apology to the detective, before walking away immediately, not wanting to upset the detective with his presence any further.

Nines got back to his desk, seeing Connor sitting right next to his. Connor’s face lit up as he saw Nines and enveloped him in a big hug. “Nines! I was wondering where you were. “

“My apologies, I simply took the _‘scenic route’_ , as you like to call it.” Nines sat down next to Connor as they began talking about their days and what they had planned later.

“I wanted to check out this new android-friendly bar down a couple blocks from our place.” Connor looked at him with a gesture which Nines assumed that he picked up from interacting with humans, seeing as his predecessor moved his hand around in a manner which could be described as lazy. “Just wanted to ask if you wanted to come with? I’m going to need a helping hand if I were to somehow get drunk.”

Connor laughed at his statement, which forced a snort out of Nines, shaking his head. Nines’s LED was running yellow, processing the situation. He didn’t really like bars, because of all the people there and how loud it was. But seeing as his sensors were set to block out any unwanted noise…

Nines had no time to answer, as Connor’s head turned to look at Captain Jeffrey Fowler’s office, his LED flashing a quick red before turning yellow for the moment. Connor sighed and looked at Nines with an exasperated gaze. “Captain Fowler wants both you and Detective Reed in his office.”

“Oh.” Nines looked down onto his desk. “I assume this might have been because I accidentally spilled coffee on him on the way here.”

It did not take Connor’s soft look to make Nines realize that he had a furrowed brow and a sad expression on his face. Connor took his hand gently and put his other hand on top of it, rubbing soothing circles around Nines’ synthskin.

“Everything will be alright, brother. Even if it was because of that, I don’t think Captain Fowler would call both you and Gavin into his office for a minor misunderstanding.”

Nines smiled at his brother, a familiar warmth entering his body and dissipating as quickly as it came. He hugged Connor once more before standing up and heading to Captain Jeffrey Fowler’s office. He supposed he would have to set new parameters for his audio sensors so that he would be able to hear his voice, but personally, Nines did not want to hear Captain Fowler’s voice. Brought back memories of a time in which he was not having _‘a good time’_.

With no time like the present, Nines _(begrudgingly)_ walked into the Captain’s office, taking a seat with his back ramrod straight as they waited for Detective Reed. 


	2. Gavin Reed is Fuckin' Angry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin has never really liked working with a partner. Neither did he like working with insufferable pricks who don't fucking talk to him, but here they were.

“So that prick has the nerve to bump into me, right? And then he fuckin’ spills _my_ coffee all over himself and just-”

“Reed! Nines! In my office right now!” Captain Fowler’s voice boomed throughout the entire precinct. Gavin wondered if the captain had some sort of megaphone in his office or something because jesus fucking christ, Jeffrey Fowler could not just have a voice _that damn loud_.

Tina Chen, Gavin’s best (and first) friend at the precinct, looked at the direction of the Captain’s office, then back at Gavin. “Whaddaya think it’s about?”

“Hell if I know. If I get another disciplinary out of this I’m calling a riot.” Gavin shoved his left hand into his pocket while he nursed the fresher cup of coffee in his other hand before taking a quick sip. Tina just laughed.

“I’ll be there to throw stones at the windows if you need me.”

“Uh, yeah, you better.” Gavin snorted.

“Reed!”

Gavin groaned as he stood up from his place at Tina’s desk, placing his cup on her desk momentarily while he got his bearings. “He’s lucky that I managed to get another cup of this thing. God knows how many of these fucks want some of the holy bean juice.”

“If you call coffee ‘holy bean juice’ one more time I will scream.”

Gavin flipped her off, figured that was a good enough response, then walked into Fowler’s office, in which sat his hardass boss and the newest member of the DPD, Tin Can two-point-oh. To be completely honest, Gavin didn’t know too much about Tin Can #2. All he knew was that he always tried to help others out, but then completely stopped altogether, except when they’re at a crime scene or something. It… kinda weirded him out, but hey. What did he know? 

“So.” Fowler glanced among the two of them before training his gaze on the file in front of him right now. “I’m impressed with your performance, boys. You’ve managed to successfully solve a few cases quick and easy. Good job.”

Gavin took a sip of his coffee idly, not necessarily _wanting_ to hear the praise but also secretly relishing in it. It wasn’t really a big secret that Gavin liked hearing people sing his praises. In fact, he could think of a few instances in which he bragged about his _‘excellent performance’_ and _‘astute observations’_ to Tina in the break room, just over the course of the past week. He actually did his job and he did it well, and that’s what’s kept him in the DPD for so damn long, despite his extensive disciplinary record.

“However.” Fowler’s gaze turned into a glare directed at Gavin and he wondered _‘What the fuck did I do this time?’_ , before noticing that Fowler’s glare wasn’t a glare, but a look of exhaustion. The reason for said exhaustion Gavin didn’t really know, so he just sipped some more of his coffee while waiting for the rest of Fowler’s statement. “Reed, you’ve been having some trouble with the past few cases.”

Gavin scoffed and directed his own glare at Fowler, putting up a cruel smile in place of his hatred for not getting it done as quick as he’d have liked. “Uh, yeah. Because I don’t get the evidence processed fast enough before the goddamn killer drops another fuckin’ body!”

That was the Gavin Reed guarantee after all, mess with him and you'd get snapped at, insulted, blamed, hell, maybe all three if you're an unlucky bastard that messed with him on a bad day! Well, Fowler's basically used to this shit by now, so he just sighed and shook his head.

"I was just getting to that, Reed. The point is, sometimes evidence takes too long to be processed by our teams here at the precinct, and it would be more efficient if you could do it, say, right at the crime scene, don't ya think?"

_Oh hell no._

"Oh, that's bullshit and you know it! I've done fine without a goddamn partner for years and y-"

"And now you're stuck on a case which requires fast data analysis you simply can't get without an android partner! I am _trying_ to make things easier for you and you just want to keep making things difficult!" Fowler snapped back at him, some veins popping up on his head. Gavin swore if he enraged Fowler even more, he'd likely burst several veins and die. 

_'Good. Then he'd be finally off my ass.'_ Gavin thought bitterly. Okay, so he wasn't _that_ heartless to want Fowler to actually fucking die, but jesus fucking christ if that man could just lay off him for more than five minutes.

Fowler pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, before looking at Gavin, and then at Tin Can Numero Dos. "You two will be partnered together, and that's _final_. Do I make myself clear?"

Gavin huffed and muttered a _'yeah yeah, go fuck yourself'_ but what hadn't expected was for the damn android to not respond. Fowler looked in the plastic prick's direction before saying _'Nines!'_ in a louder tone. Gavin honestly couldn't care less about the plastic prick _,_ but his lack of response was… unsettling, to say the least.

"Yo, meat sack to tin can, do you copy?"

And the damn thing chose to ignore him, instead asking Fowler if he was completely sure in this decision, knowing that Gavin was _blah blah blah,_ and he was _blah blah blah._

_Fucking prick._

Fowler just sighed and repeated his decision, with Tin Can #2 _(Gavin knew he used that one already, but it's pretty hard to think of nicknames which could be said with either spite or endearment while you're fuming because your boss thinks you're incompetent and th-)_ just nodding defeatedly. Mimes _(or whatever the fuck his name was_ ) sat there for a moment, and for a second, Gavin thought that the plastic prick slouched in his seat, before sitting up as straight as before.

"...understood, Captain Fowler." Mimes said as he looked to the floor dejectedly.

Fowler seemed pleased with the agreement and ordered them to get out. Gavin stood up immediately and stormed out the door, taking a huge sip from his _(now cold)_ coffee. 

"I don't need a partner, and I certainly don't need a glorified toaster to do my goddamn job." Gavin muttered to himself.

It wasn't like he had anything against androids. Gavin just… didn't like having a partner. He may have gotten slightly more tolerable after the revolution and he became Connor's bromance partner, but that still didn't affect how he worked his cases.

Gavin was a highly efficient detective who did things his way. Having a partner would just slow him down, no matter what Fowler fucking thought.

Sighing into his hands, the detective walked out of the DPD for a quick smoke break, fiddling with his lighter as the cool wind blew against him.

* * *

The next day, Gavin glared at the case file in his hand as if it had broken into his house, called him a bitch, and drank all his Pepsi. The case in question had been the thing that had been plaguing his mind for a shit load of time, the thing which he worked on so damn much until Tina would yell at him to go home and get to sleep. _(They’d fight like that often, but they’d get each other a coffee the next day and make up.)_

The case was simple. Dead androids, parts scattered, no witnesses. Every now and again, Gavin and some of the other officers would find a part of said android, somewhere within the area around Capitol Park, with some sort of creepy ass message written in the victim’s blood, alongside some weird artistic shit like flowers or broken glass and shit. Of course, Gavin knew that thirium evaporated within a few hours, so by the time they got to the scene of the crime they wouldn’t be able to see it without some form of equipment like Connor’s blue blood seeing eyes or whatever.

Currently, they had found four arms, three legs, and two chest pieces, thirium pumps ripped out. No head, so they couldn’t really gather any of the androids' memories _(if it still had them)_ as evidence. So yeah, they were basically fucked, and the killer was probably laughing it up in their faces, because _ha ha, you’re too stupid to figure this out on your own._

And so, since Captain Fuckler decided to pair him up with the Taller Connor, Gavin had to fucking give that guy the case info. He walked up to Mimes’s desk, seeing his partner _(ugh)_ sifting through some documents, staring at the screen with the skin on his hand all peeled back and shit. Gavin decided that the sooner they got this done with, the better, so he called out for the plastic prick.

“Yo, tin can.”

“...”

“Hey! Meat sack to tin can, I’m talking to you!”

“...”

 _Oh,_ this guy was really getting on his nerves.

“I swear to _fuckin’_ god, I will deck you-”

“Connor is with Lieutenant Anderson at the moment.” _What?_ “He will arrive in approximately five minutes, so you can talk with him then.”

“What? I’m not… I’m not here for Connor, you plastic prick. I’m here for _you,_ Mimes. Y’know, as my _partner_?”

“Oh.” Tin Can #2 said with his LED pulsing between red and yellow. Gavin would’ve face palmed right there, but he settled for just rubbing his eyes in frustration, which could be mistaken for getting the sleep out of his eyes because it’s fucking eight in the goddamn morning and he spent most of last night reviewing cold cases. They sat there for a few moments, before Mimes mumbled something before getting back to his screen.

“What was that, you fuckin’ prick?”

“I said, that my name is _Nines,_ not Mimes.” Mim- _Nines_ stated with his LED pulsing a steady yellow, training his eyes on Gavin before returning to the screen, seemingly annoyed at him.

Nines didn’t say anything else, but Gavin could practically hear whatever the fuck that plastic prick was saying in his mind. He did not like it. Gavin sneered at him, putting his hands on the android’s desk and leaning forward. “Well, _sorry_ if I don’t remember your goddamn name. It’s not like you’ve ever mentioned it before.”

Nines doesn’t even look up from his terminal. “Captain Fowler has yelled out my name. Twice, in fact. Once while you were in the room, even.”

“Tch. Whatever. I’m here to discuss the case with you so if you wouldn’t mind fuckin’ cooperating with me, that’d be great.” Gavin did _not_ blush at his own stupidity. Gavin did _not_ throw the case file into that prick’s face. Gavin _totally_ did _not_ get angry and storm out of the room, muttering something about having a smoke break.

And so, Gavin stood outside the DPD’s front, eyeing the people who were passing by. He lit up a cigarette, putting one of his hands into his jacket pocket and slumped against the wall behind him, trying to calm his nerves. He was… an irritable human. He heard Connor describe him like that once, which, _fair_. He was also described as a rash asshole who didn’t get enough attention as a kid by Hank. He got into a yelling match with Hank after that, which led to both of them getting more shit added to their disciplinaries.

Either way, thoughts of those two shifted from being hostile and aggressive to calm and passive. After the revolution, Gavin had finally seen Connor as a real person. Gave him a half-assed apology, which Connor eagerly accepted, saying that their _‘bromance is saved!’,_ before proceeding to trap Gavin in a one armed hug _(which in hindsight, was kinda more like a headlock)_. 

Gavin smiled at the memory, then sighed as the thought of Nines came through his mind. Out of all the damn androids he had to be partnered with, Fowler chose the prick who didn’t even look at nor respect him. Nines was practically just a bootleg Connor, despite his more _‘AdVaNcEd CaPaBiLiTiEs’_ and slightly more terrifying look.

While Connor was nice and easy to joke around with, Nines was a fucking brick wall who never even alerts anyone to his presence, getting whatever the fuck he needs to do out of the way before steering clear of everyone else except for Connor and Anderson. While Connor did a lot of the negotiating, Nines would just stare at people, his intimidating stature _(which helped them get a decent number of confessions)_ practically the only good thing about him that Connor didn’t have, aside from his beefed up processor or whatever. Nines was just a copy of Connor back when he was a goddamn machine, and Gavin already hated the fact that he looked like Connor, staining his memories of looking at that warm-looking _(kissable)_ face.

 _And oh boy._ How the android continued to piss him off without even trying. He wasn’t even acting like he didn’t fucking care - he genuinely didn’t.

“If you are done with your smoke break-”

“Jesus fucking christ!” Gavin jumped back and threw a fist at Nines’s chest, the impact cracking a few of his knuckles. He held his _(now injured!)_ hand and glared at the plastic prick. _“Could you at LEAST give a guy a little warning?!”_

“I did. I tapped on the wall behind you a few moments before speaking.” Nines said almost robotically, Gavin could barely hear the inflection in his voice which showed some sort of… pain? _Whatever._ “As I was saying, if you are done with your smoke break, I would advise we move quickly. A possible witness and another body part have been found, and Captain Fowler wants us to go investigate.”

Gavin sighed, putting out his cigarette by pushing it into Nines’s white as fuck jacket before moving on to his car. “Well? Get a move on. Prick.”

Gavin turned around and walked to his car, ignoring his partner's LED circling red, red, red.

* * *

Gavin scrunched his nose in disgust at the sight of his partner swiping his finger on the ground and shoving it into his mouth. He never really liked it when Connor did that, he always called Connor gross or disgusting but seeing Nines do it was just… _ugh._

"The victim was a WM500 model named Travis, activation date July 21st, 2035. He worked on the construction of the new android pet store near Capitol Park. The thirium is four hours and thirteen minutes old, which would suggest that the hand was removed at around that time."

Gavin idly listened to Robocop's little infodump, picking apart pieces that were relevant to the case and filtering out those he deemed irrelevant. He figured that since Capitol park was around a three-hour walk from here, but only about an hour and a half if they drove there. Not knowing whether the person was an android or a human was a tricky part of this equation, so-

"Detective."

"What?"

"I found a blood sample on the hand itself belonging to one Christina Trindale, age 43, former doctor at White Rose Memorial Hospital a few weeks back before the hospital she worked at had faced some budget cuts and had to let her go in favor of keeping the android staff due to getting away with paying them less."

Nines said some more shit about how she participated in multiple art contests when she was younger, which practically confirmed that theory.

"Can you find her location?"

Nines's LED spun its processing yellow, before he looked at Gavin. "I caught her on the security cameras approaching Capitol Park, if we could get there in time-"

Gavin didn't bother listening to the rest of Nines's report, urging him to get in the fucking car or else he'd have to run there. Nines quickly complied, but his LED pulsed red before turning yellow again, his brows furrowed with either concentration or confusion. Gavin didn't have the fucking time to come to a conclusion on what the fuck the android's mood ring was telling him, so he quickly sped out and went to tell the other officers.

"Nines, could you sync our perp's assumed location to my GPS?"

"Of course, detective."

The little blip on the map was going way past Capitol Park now, moving in towards the Human Sanctuary, some dumbass rich neighborhood which tried too hard to look rich and appealing. Gavin had only been to that part of town five times during his whole career at the DPD, and from what he gathered from those times, this part was where the snooty rich people who wanted to flaunt their wealth lived. Gavin had a hunch that if Christina Trindale lived here _(which she probably did, considering she was a doctor),_ she'd probably have some freaky android execution basement.

Gavin put on a dangerous smile, turning on the police siren and speeding down the road. In the corner of his eye, he saw Nines clutch the edge of his seat and put his seatbelt on.

"Alright. Let's go catch a killer."

* * *

After getting to Trindale's little mansion, they found her little android death chamber, she tried to run away, blah blah blah. The officers in the case cheered and congratulated each other, except for a certain plastic prick who hastily tried to get away from them all.

"Hey! Where'd'ya think you're goin', tin can?"

Nines froze on the spot, his head tilted away from Gavin so he couldn't see his partner's LED. "I… I am going back to the DPD and filing away our evidence, and then I am going to write our report, Detective."

Gavin scoffed. "Just admit it. You don't like hanging around us meat bags because you're _'so superior'_ and _'highly complex',_ well guess what, dipshit? You're just a pretentious prick who thinks you're some hot shot detective, but you're really just a self-centered asshole who thinks he's so high and mighty."

Nines didn't say anything to refute that claim. He just furrowed his brows and looked away from Gavin. The human detective walked past him, making a point to shoulder check the android. 

"Stay outta my way. Asshole."

And with that, Gavin Reed left the crime scene, completely lost in his own rage that he didn't even see Nines's LED flashing a serious red, his face contorted into a hurt expression. 


	3. Gavin Reed is Confused As Hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin doesn't get Nines, and he really doesn't want to.

The bar was becoming livelier and livelier than Gavin had ever seen it before.

After the completion of the Trindale case, Gavin had decided to invite his closest _(only)_ friends in the DPD for a fun night of laughter, gossip, and booze. He looked around at the table where the five of them sat. Tina was retelling the tale of what happened during the summer of ‘38, with Chris laughing every few seconds due to just how ridiculous the story was. Hank butted in with some parts of the story that Tina either forgot to mention or was too drunk to remember, with Connor just looking around at the group, his LED spinning that nice shade of blue.

“...and that’s when the fire spread from my desk, to his desk, and Gavvy was all like _‘oh’_ .” Tina did her best Gavin impression _(which wasn’t even that good),_ which elicited a snort out of Gavin himself and a chuckle from Hank. Chris was legit crying, clutching his sides, head down on the table, laughing like a maniac. Connor simply patted him on the back, nursing some of that thirium whiskey _(which could_ **_definitely_ ** _make androids drunk)_ . “I mean like, who the FUCK just says _‘oh’_ when your desk is on fire?!”

“And the bastard just stared at his desk while Tina fucking got to work with that fire extinguisher.”

“If you could even fuckin’... call that _‘getting to work’_.”

“Fuck you, Gav.”

There was a sudden silence between the group, the only sounds coming from the rest of the lively bar. Tina glared at Gavin, who glared back, but it was hella fucking obvious that they were both trying to hold back their laughter. In the end, Gavin laughed first, and was now trying not to fall off his chair. 

“Heeeyyyyy Gavin?” Connor slurred as he stared contemplatively at his thirium drink, as if it held the answers to every single question in the world except for what he wanted to ask Gavin.

“Mm. Yeah?”

“Where’s… where’s Nines?”

Gavin’s good mood practically fucking launched itself off the top of Stratford Tower and crashed into the ground at terminal velocity at the mention of that prick. Gavin didn’t even try to hide his fucking scowl, which elicited some… weird reactions from Hank and Connor. They seemed… put off by the gesture. “I don’ fuckin’ know. Probably at the station, parading how great he fuckin is with that stick up his ass.”

“Hey.” Connor’s LED spun yellow, red, yellow, yellow. “Don’t talk… don’t talk about my fucking brother like that.”

Gavin snorted before he took a hella long sip of his whiskey, with Chris and Tina too enraptured in their own conversation to even notice the rising tension between the rest of the group. Gavin didn’t know why the fuck Connor defended his brother so much. Sure, they were _‘brothers’_ and all that, but how couldn’t he see how much of an asshole his brother was?

“Oh, _I’m sorry._ It’s just that - no offense, Con - but your brother is an asshole.”

Connor just fucking broke the glass of his thirium, his LED glowing as red as it possibly could. Hank’s face was contorted into a fit of rage which Gavin was familiar with. It was the face he always wore when he used to be a drunk ass loser who would get fucking mad everytime someone mentioned their kids.

Chris and Tina snapped out of their conversation and stared at them wide-eyed, before finding some excuse to leave the conversation. Tina gave Gavin a worried glance, before heading to wherever the fuck she thought she'd be safe from the crossfire.

Neither Hank nor Connor spared them a glance.

“You have no damn idea what he’s been through.” Hank hissed at him.

Gavin sneered at both of them, not even caring about the shattered glass stained with thirium scattered all over the table, not even caring about how Hank looked like he was about to deck him so fucking hard that he’d knock some of his teeth out. “Yeah? Well that’s because he doesn’t fucking talk to anybody unless it’s about work!”

Gavin swore that he could see steam emitting from Connor’s twink ass frame as he angrily adjusted his tie. Hank downed another shot of whatever the fuck he was having before sighing and patting Connor’s shoulder before turning to Gavin with a stern look on his face. 

“Look. There’s a reason that kid doesn’t talk to anybody. It’s not his fault that he doesn’t talk to anybody, because frankly, we were all assholes back then.”

Gavin just seethed as he downed the rest of his drink. Oh, so _he’s_ the damn asshole, even though he tried to talk to the guy and was completely fucking ignored so many times. _He’s_ the fucking asshole because he told the goddamn truth about that… bitch ass twunk. “Well, whaddya want me to do? Huh? Ya want me to… I dunno, fuckin’ invite him over here?”

“Yes.”

Gavin groaned as he pulled out his phone and tried to contact Twunk Can. He tried calling him first, not bothering to step away from the table. “No response, dipshits.”

“Try texting him then.”

Gavin sighed and decided to type out a sloppy message, sending it before showing Hank and Connor that he did as they _demanded_ asked.

 **_Gavin [22:49]:_ ** _yo  
_ **_Gavin [22:49]:_ ** _so hank and conor are like pised at me cuz u rnt here  
_ **_Gavin [22:50]:_ ** _it’d be real fckn nice if u were to join us_

A few minutes passed. Nothing. Not even read. By then, Tina had come back to tell them that Chris already felt tired waiting for them to make up so he just left, and then she went off to try to talk to some girl after being met with silence from Hank and Connor. Connor stared at Gavin's phone intently, LED a shining yellow, as if staring at it would will a faster reply.

Papa Bear decided that staring at Gavin’s phone would not get a faster reply from Nines, and whipped out his own phone to try and text the damn android. And just like that, if the look on both Hank and Connor’s face was any sign, the bitch in question replied immediately!

“Huh. Guess he just really doesn’t like you, Reed.” Hank snorted, showing his phone to Gavin.

 **_Son #2 [11:01 PM]:_ ** _I apologize for not attending, Lieutenant. I just have a few things on my mind that would most likely make the party unenjoyable for you.  
_ **_Son #2 [11:01 PM]:_ ** _Enjoy the rest of the party, dad.  
_ **_Son #2 [11:01 PM]:_ ** _:)_

Gavin scowled at the phone, muttering words he shouldn’t use when around children _(or people who’d throw a hissy fit when they hear what you said)_ , before slamming a twenty dollar bill on the table and getting up. “I’m heading out. Go fuck yourselves.”

With that out of the way, Gavin strode out of the building as fast as possible, texting Tina on the way out to tell her that he left. He hailed a cab, ignoring how Anderson and his plastic pet glared at him through the doors, and headed straight home. Upon his arrival, Asshole, his cat, nuzzled into his legs and purred. Gavin sighed and scratched the back of Asshole’s head.

“At least you’re still here for me.”

Asshole then decided that Gavin was no longer worth his time, walking away like a pretentious prick. Gavin now remembered why he named his cat Asshole. He sighed, not bothering to change his clothes that already reeked of cheap alcohol as he lied down on his bed. The last thing that went through his mind was how much of a pain his hangover would be tomorrow.

* * *

True to his thoughts last night, Gavin’s hangover was a huge fucking pain in his ass. He groaned as he walked into the DPD, hoping that Tina would also be hungover, so he wouldn’t be dealing with his hangover alone. _(Just like last time. And the time before that. And the time before that.)_ As Gavin walked sluggishly to his desk, he saw some ibuprofen and a cup of coffee with a note written in almost perfect Cyberlife Sans, saying “If it helps.” 

Gavin… Gavin didn’t know who wrote this, but he could guess. It would have to be an android since all androids wrote in some form of Cyberlife Sans for some damn reason, and it’d have to be someone who knew that he was hungover. It could’ve been Connor, if not for the fact that Gavin had pissed him off last night and the fact that Connor’s writing somewhat deviated from Cyberlife Sans, part of being human and all that shit. It couldn’t have been any of the other androids, because he did his job like an asshole and pissed off as many of them as he could to maintain an aggressive enough relationship with them so that they’d leave him the fuck alone.

He shrugged as he took the ibuprofen and chugged the coffee, thanking whatever android god _(or goddess)_ had given him this gift from heaven before turning to look at wherever the fuck Connor was so that he could thank him properly. He spotted Connor at his desk, talking to Nines, who was looking in his general direction, before he turned back to his terminal. Gavin’s eyes widened as the realization hit him.

 _Of course it had to be Nines._ Gavin thought bitterly, staring into his cup of coffee to avoid eye contact and also to see if there was anything funny in his coffee. _But why the fuck would he do that? After my bitchy ass fucking called him out?_

The human detective didn’t know. He just drank his coffee in silence, enjoying the taste of his little cup of heaven while ignoring who it came from. That had always been their relationship from the start anyways. While scrolling through his phone for cat videos, Gavin was alerted to the sound of his name.

“...with Detective Reed?” Connor said in a hushed tone.

Gavin looked over to see the Con-Man, talking to Dressed-To-The-Nines, who didn’t say a word. Or at least, he thought he didn’t, until Connor responded to the silence with “Yeah, I know but-”. Gavin presumed that Nines was talking to Connor through his robo-mindlink or whatever. Why Connor didn’t talk to him through that was beyond him.

Suddenly, Tin Can #1’s LED turned red, but then shifted to yellow as he looked at Tin Can #2 with deep concern. Nines’s expression mirrored his brother’s, yet was still focused on the screen. After a few more seconds, Gavin turned back to his phone, before turning around yet again upon hearing Connor slam his fists onto Nines’s desk.

“He doesn’t know you like we do!” Connor practically yelled, making heads turn towards his general direction. 

Nines’s face contorted into a face of desperation as he stared at Connor, his LED a bright, alarming red. Connor’s face then softened slightly, still showing that deep concern. He then sighed, patted Nines on the back and went to the back of the precinct to do whatever the fuck he wanted to do back there. _(If anyone asked Gavin, he’d have said that Connor was FaceTiming his super secret android lover but hey, nobody did.)_

Now, Gavin Reed was an excellent detective. He knew that. His co-workers knew that. Obviously, Nines was upset about something _(or some things)_ Connor said. Now, Gavin didn’t really care about his partner too much, but whenever he was presented with a mystery, he always had this itch to solve it.

And that’s why Gavin strode over to Nines’s desk with the intent of learning what the fuck _that_ was all about.

Gavin cleared his throat as soon as he got to Nines’s desk, tapping on it twice just in case he couldn’t hear him. “Hey, was the ibuprofen and coffee your plan?”

Nines looked up at him in confusion, but nodded anyway.

“Well, thanks for that. Really. My head was startin’ ‘a kill me.” Gavin made a point to look sincere for his somewhat apology. “Uh, sorry for… blowin’ up on you. When we finished the case. I just assumed that you didn’t like us because you were the most advanced android or whatever. No hard feelings, yeah?”

“...yeah. No hard feelings, Detective.” iPhone 9s looked like he was trying to process that little piece of info, his LED gone from red to yellow within the next few seconds.

“Ah, you can call me Gavin. Hey, I heard there was this bar that served both normal drinks and thirium drinks. I’ve been meaning to check it out sometime soon but Tina’s schedule is packed and so is Connor’s. Wanna come with?”

Nines looked at him with a hell of a lot of hesitation, furrowed brows and all, which was too much for Gavin’s plans to reasonably work out, before sighing and smiling up at him. “My apologies, Detective. I do not think that I would be suitable company. You could just come with Connor, I am positive that he’d make time for you despite his hectic schedule, you are closer, after all.”

Gavin just stared at Nines, unable to say anything. Before he knew it, Nines mentioned something about going on his break and was already out of the precinct before Gavin could even register it. Once he snapped out of his daze, Gavin tried to follow Nines outside, but he was already gone. Gavin took a moment, staring at the busy streets in front of him, before looking down and sighing.

“Fuck.”

* * *

Nines came back from his break exactly thirty minutes after he left, looking kinda… disheveled, for some reason. His hair was kinda messed up and his face showed traces of exhaustion, which Gavin took note of for the first time. Did Nines always come back from his breaks like this? Gavin thought that he had known pretty much everything he had to know about Nines, but he found out that he didn’t really know anything about him.

He didn’t know what the hell Nines did in his free time. He didn’t know what the android liked. Hell, he didn’t even know where Nines lived.

Gavin sighed, putting his head in his hands. Considering that he took the effort to get to know Connor, he figured he could also do the same for Nines. He stood up once again and went to Nines, trying to get out another request to go out with the guy.

_(Not on a date or anything! Just like… casually. Dudes being dudes at a bar.)_

“Uh hey, Nines.” Gavin scratched the back of his head. “Sorry for being too forward earlier and uh. I talked to Connor already, but the bastard’s too busy, so the invite’s still open if you w-”

“We have another case, Detective.” Nines interrupted, his LED now spinning yellow, yellow, red, yellow. _Uh oh._ “There’s been another android homicide, found by a truck driver named Mason Holloway.”

“Come on, just one drink!” Gavin tried again. He wasn’t going to beg for this guy. No way in hell was he gonna beg, no matter how fucking _impossible_ that prick was-

Nines just stared at him with a blank stare, if only his brows weren’t furrowed and his LED wasn’t spinning yellow, red, red, yellow, red. _Ugh_. Gavin sighed and asked for the case details. Nines gave them to him while he walked stiffly to one of the police vehicles, Gavin following shortly after.

Gavin didn’t care about Nines. _He really didn’t._ But whatever the fuck this was? It was getting him to care about the android.


	4. Gavin Reed is Trying, Okay?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin tries to smoothen things out with his partner. He kinda succeeds.

Gavin didn’t know much about Nines, and that thought didn’t really sit well with him.

It wasn’t like he ever got out of his way to get to know his  _ (forced)  _ partners, which was probably because he already knew some pieces of info about them. Like Chris, he knew that he had a wife and kids, he knew that he liked pina coladas but only drank them as a treat for when he was particularly stressed, Gavin knew the little things about his partners, no matter how short their partnerhood was.

But what did he really know about Nines?

So, he decided to observe him. And from his brief observations, he found out a few things about the android. Like how whenever Gavin calls him ‘tin can’, he startles a bit, looking to see if he was the one who’s actually being called, but whenever someone else says tin can, it’s like he doesn’t hear them at all. Or how he only responded to other people whenever they gave him a tap on the shoulder or something.

Nines was a mystery to Gavin, and Gavin Reed was not one to back down from a mystery that needed solving. But of course, that had to wait. They were at a crime scene after all.

Holographic lines of police tape were placed in neat lines around the crime scene, with some officers around to block random civilians from interfering with the scene. Gavin showed his badge to one of the officers, urging Nines forward with a tilt of his head. The scene in front of them was… brutal, to say the least. Gavin didn’t really like androids  _ (the ones at the station seemed chill enough though),  _ but damn, this one just didn’t sit well with him.

“Jesus fuckin’ christ… this thing’s been skinned alive.” 

Nines just nodded and stuck his tongue directly into the evidence, which caused Gavin to look away. He decided to survey the scene, seeing it as a better use of his time than bitching about Nines’s absolutely disgusting way of sampling data, because who the fuck in their right minds would program a robot to lick data? Either way, Gavin continued his search for evidence.

“The victim was a Myrmidon model named River used in the military. Once androids got their rights, River decided to volunteer at Jericho.”

“Any fingerprints? Bloodstains?”

“None that I can see, Detective.”

“Cause of death?”

“She was bludgeoned to death with the pipe over there, but I suspect that considering she was a military android that she had to have been forced into shutdown before that.”

“Well, there’s no sign of a fight having occurred here, this place looks more like a dumping spot ‘stead of a battleground, and I don’t think that this…” Gavin pointed to the place in the android’s skull which had caved in. “...was done ‘til after she was skinned, so that leads me to believe that whoever killed her, wanted her skin. But the question here is why?”

Nines looked at the human detective with this look of concentration in his eyes, as though he was attempting to preconstruct whatever the fuck Gavin said to him. “A likely conclusion. The killer could’ve wanted her skin as a bargaining tool or as some kind of profitable means. A military android’s skin is coated with Kevlar plating, it’s not unlikely that whoever took it would want to sell it.”

“Alright, so we just gotta ask around in the local black market, then.” Gavin then added a few notes on his tablet, before a sudden noise from his partner took his attention.

“What is it, Tin Can?”

“It’s just… I’ve been reviewing some cold cases, and I’ve found that over the past year or so, there have been several androids with their integral biocomponents stolen.” Nines picked out the tablet from Gavin’s hand, his LED shifting to yellow and staying there for a few minutes, while the tablet displayed the old cases. “Each component that has been stolen was unique to that model. We have Grace, who was an AC700, designed for sports. Missing thirium pump. Then we have Drew’s…  _ Traci parts _ . And now…” 

“River’s military plating. Could be some sick fuck wanting to form a collection.”

Nines only nodded while his LED spun yellow, and if Gavin was good at reading people, Nines probably thought that whatever this was, that wasn’t it. Gavin took a deep breath to not  _ freak the fuck out because who the fuck agrees to something they don’t really believe _ and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Alright. What do you  _ really  _ think happened here, Nines?”

Nines was seemingly startled at whatever the fuck Gavin said, LED pulsing red before turning back to yellow. “It’s just… It seems rather unlikely and-”

“Spill. At this point we’re kinda grasping at straws so whatever idea you have can’t be worse than any of mine.”

“Well…” Nines scrolled through the list of victims on the tablet, before he pointed at a few individuals. “We have Silas whose arms were taken, then there’s Fractal whose legs were also taken. That is a TW400’s arms and an AC900’s legs, which while not necessarily more valuable compared to the other stolen biocomponents, could be used to make a stronger and better body.”

Gavin’s eyes widened in understanding. “You’re saying that this killer could be looking to create a new body.”

Nines nodded hesitantly, and even though Gavin didn’t have any of those bullshit stress level scanners, he could tell that his partner’s stress was rapidly increasing. “Of course, that is only a theory, there are several more likely theories out there-”

“No, no! You did great, Nines!” Gavin didn’t know why he tried to calm down the T-1000 known as his partner, but whatever he did, it wasn’t working. He slung an arm around Nines’s tall ass frame, not noticing Nines was hella uncomfortable until he shoved his arm off his shoulder. 

“I-” Nines’s LED spun this violent looking red, his eyes narrowed in what Gavin would describe as a glare, if not for the look of sorrow and…  _ fear  _ in his eyes. “I am sorry, Detective. I… I do not think that I am amenable to physical contact just yet.”

“R-Right. Sorry.” Gavin frowned as he thought things over. He didn’t know what the hell just happened, but he didn’t want to pry into Nines’s personal life. What right did he have anyway? He’d  _ (supposedly)  _ been a total asshole to the dude. What did he do to Nines, anyway? Anderson said something about all of them being assholes before but…

Nines simply nodded and returned to the case at hand. Gavin sighed as he rubbed his face. Maybe after the case is closed he could actually try to connect with Nines or whatever. But until then, they’ve got a case to close, and judging by the amount of parts they’ve gotten, not too much time before whoever did this got too powerful to stop.

* * *

Gavin Reed was tired. He was really fucking tired from running around all day, trying to gather all the damn evidence from the place, which to be frank, was as scarce as they originally thought it would be. Just the victim’s body and the bloodied pipe. And with that, he decided to call it a day, and register the evidence for now, then try to find someone who had the motivations to kill several of their own kind, could build a whole new Frankenstein’s monster of a body, and then transport themself into said body.

Sighing into the driver’s seat of his car, Gavin waited for Nines so that they could head to the precinct and get the fuck out of there. Looking out the window, he saw the tin can do his android business with some other bots, whether they were witnesses or other android officers, Gavin didn’t know, nor did he really care. He only cared for one RoboCop, which was surprisingly, not Connor.

He cared about Nines.

Gavin shook his head, just as Nines arrived, putting on his seatbelt, then putting Gavin’s seatbelt on for him. Gavin didn’t know when this became a thing, but he knew better than to argue with a distressed android. He didn’t want anyone to self-destruct on him, or god forbid,  _ because  _ of him.

“Hey.” Gavin looked towards Nines with the smallest of smiles. It was… it was the least that he could give his android partner who apparently wasn’t as touchy as he was. It was also the most that Gavin could bear to give him, just because Nines had a mini-freakout earlier didn’t mean that he’d suddenly gotten a free-pass to Nice Gavin ™ . “You did well out there, Nines. Good job.”

Nines looked surprised. Whether it was because of the complement or the fact that Gavin smiled at him, neither of them knew. “Th... thank you, Detective.”

“Ah, please. You can call me Gavin. Or any other fun human nicknames you can think of. God knows how many I’ve got for you and Connor.”

Nines paused at that statement, mood light spinning a contemplative yellow, before giving Gavin a small smile of his own. Gavin didn’t actually think that Nines was capable of smiling, let alone at him. It was actually kinda…

“Thank you, babe.”

Gavin sputtered at that.  _ Okay, wow.  _ He did… whatever the fuck he thought Nines was going to say, it sure as hell wasn’t that. A brief look at the side-mirror showed Gavin that he was blushing. Well, leave it to Connor’s  _ (admittedly kinda hot)  _ brother to break down Gavin’s walls. Nines seemed to become wary of what he said, up until he realized that Gavin was  _ laughing _ instead of crying or something. Still, his LED remained yellow, and his face still showed concern. Gavin waved him off, finally getting himself together before talking. “No problem,  _ babe. _ ”

Nines’s grin returned after a few moments, and Gavin even thought that he heard Nines chuckle. Gavin looked past Nines’s face towards the glass, seeing the pleasant blue light from the side of his head. With that, Gavin drove to the precinct, the silence between them friendly enough for Nines to start humming a tune that Gavin recognized, but couldn’t remember exactly what it was.

Gavin found that in the quiet sounds of Detroit, he liked Nines’ soft voice the most.


	5. Interlude: Sympathy? 》 Nines

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connor thinks that Gavin actually _likes_ Nines. Nines is somewhat skeptical, but what's the worst that could happen?

**MAY 29, 2039 - 13:57:24  
** **67** **°** **in Detroit, Michigan, 5** **° warmer than yesterday**

 _“Connor, I just don’t understand him.”_ Nines said as he plopped down on the couch beside Sumo. The dog barked softly, but didn’t make any other noises as he laid his head on Nines’s lap. The android was quick to give him pets and affection, but his burning red LED most likely showed his brother that he was not working at optimal capacity.

It was Nines’s first day-off for the week, and he’d already grown quite accustomed to it. He knew that Hank and Connor would’ve also had their days-off today, but apparently something happened and they needed android assistance. Why they didn’t ask Nines for it, he never knew, but he had an inkling. Nines frowned as he stared at the ground, momentarily stopping his petting of the St. Bernard. A small whine from Sumo got him to get back to it.

 _“Well.”_ Connor said from their interface. _“ Maybe he likes you?” _

Nines rolled his eyes, but then realized that Connor would most likely not have seen that, so he sent a GIF of a person rolling her eyes. He heard Connor snort through their link, before he continued talking. _“Come on, Nines. Look through your interactions! I’d say that there is an 86% chance of him liking you.”_

Nines huffed as he brought up the aforementioned messages. They were mostly just a few more talks about how he ‘did a good job’ and was ‘highly efficient’, which Nines already knew based on their one conversation during the end of yesterday’s crime scene investigation. And yet, there was also that one interaction in which Detective Reed reacted… _nicely_ to when Nines had called him ‘babe’.

While Nines did not know this at the time, he found out that ‘babe’ was a term that people usually call their romantic partners, rather than their work partners after some more definitive research. And after he said it, he noticed that Detective Reed’s temperature had raised slightly, his face flooding with warmth as it turned a bright reddish hue. Nines found that Detective Reed had blushed in reaction to being called ‘babe’, and that he _(possibly jokingly?)_ also referred to Nines as ‘babe’.

Being as new to feeling emotions as he was, Nines knew that he had a scarce grasp on emotions and feelings. He knew the basics: happiness, anger, sorrow, grief, and love. He was quite familiar with those, and now he was also getting familiarized with confusion. What he did note, was that there was another feeling there, reserved specifically for Detective Reed.

It was… strange, to say the least. It felt like love, but he didn’t feel the same way as he did towards Connor, Hank, and Sumo. The love he felt there was more familial. It was the warm pats on the back, the serving of food, that nice warmth that made Nines think _‘I’m home’._ With Detective Reed, however? 

It was different with him.

It was wanting the detective’s approval, the way whenever the detective smiled at him causing his thirium pump regulator to stutter _(he wondered if that needed medical attention),_ the way he wanted to touch the detective… it was a different kind of warmth. It felt…

Nines shook his head and responded to Connor, who hadn’t said anything for the past three-point-zero-two seconds in which he was reviewing his interactions with Detective Reed. _“That doesn’t mean anything, Connor. It could just be how he interacts with everyone.”_

 _“Nines, as Gavin’s bromance partner, I can assure you, he doesn’t talk like that with anyone else.”_ Connor replied calmly. _“ He doesn’t talk with anyone as much as he’s talked to you.” _

_“Except for Officer Chen.”_ Nines added, hopefully ending his brother’s insistence on the matter.

 _“Who is a lesbian, and possibly one of the only ones who can stand Gavin’s moods.” _ Connor countered. _“ Honestly, Nines, I wouldn’t say this if I didn’t see some form of truth in it.” _

Nines sighed, petting Sumo until the dog had decided to fall asleep on his lap. _“Alright. I shall consider it.”_

He could feel Connor sending warmth and reassurance through their link, a feeling that whatever happens, it’ll be alright. _“ That’s all I ask, Nines.” _

Nines simply grunted and severed their link, before he gently raised Sumo’s head up from his lap and placed him on the couch. The big dog shifted in his sleep, and Nines smiled at the sight. As for his feelings for Detective Reed? He’d figure them out as he went through them. For now, he decided to try to figure out what he’d be doing for the rest of the day.

 **_Detective Reed [13:59]:_ ** _hey_ _  
_**_Detective Reed [13:59]:_ ** _here’s som emre vines and tiktoks u unclutured swine_ _  
_

Detective Reed then sent a number of Vine _and_ TikTok compilations. Nines estimated that if he were to watch them all in full instead of downloading them _‘like a coward’_ as Detective Reed would say, it would use up roughly three hours of his time. Nines sent a simple reply and began watching them.

* * *

 **MAY 30, 2039 - 04:38:51** **  
****63° in Detroit, Michigan, 4° colder than yesterday**

Today was the second day-off for both Nines and Detective Reed. Fortunately, both Hank and Connor had their days-off today as well, which meant that Nines could spend time with them today. Although… it was still quite early to be awake right now, considering that Hank and Connor were still asleep. It’s alright. Nines was just used to waking up at 4:30 on the dot. Nines considered making breakfast for the Lieutenant, although in hindsight, the breakfast would only get cold due to Hank’s wakeup being at the very least four hours and twenty-one minutes away. 

Nines liked the early mornings. It was nice. Nobody around to bother nor judge him. He always felt like he could be himself whenever it was so early in the morning. It was always so peaceful. Sumo laid on the porch next to Nines, panting softly as he let himself be pet by the tall android. It was incredibly scarce that Sumo would also be awake whenever Nines was, so Nines was grateful that the large wonderful beast shared his time with him in moments like these.

It was quite nice whenever he got the chance to just observe things. He always liked observing things. Like how the birds sang their individual songs, a tune that only they knew. Nines tried to understand the whys and the whats of birdsong, but perhaps, there were just some things that he couldn’t figure out. Detective Reed was an example of that.

The man barely even noticed him, much less talk to him, until Captain Fowler had partnered them up. Since then, he’s had one bad interaction, one neutral interaction, and one good interaction. Well, there was also an interaction that confused him, but he didn’t want to focus on that. Nines tried to reconstruct what had caused Detective Reed to change his attitude towards him. It couldn’t have been suddenly seeing him for the first time. That was what led to their one bad interaction, after all.

It could have been some sort of intervention from Connor’s end, though. His brother always knew what to say to people to get them to change their minds. He _was_ a negotiator after all. Regardless of what had caused Detective Reed’s change of heart, Nines liked it. He had already added a few new things to the list of things he liked ever since his partnership with Detective Reed. Nines decided to bring up the list again, just to recheck things and maybe add a few more things, if he thought of any.

_Things I Like_

_-Connor_ _  
__-Hank  
_ _-Sumo  
_ _-Rain  
_ _-Metal detectors  
_ _-Weighted blankets  
_ _-Whenever Detective Reed respects my boundaries  
_ _-Whenever Detective Reed is nice to me  
_ _-Detective Reed’s nicknames for me  
_ _-Detective Reed’s lengthy talks about subjects he is passionate about  
_ _-Detective Reed’s laugh (when he isn’t laughing at me)_

“Huh.” Nines said aloud, which somewhat startled Sumo awake, yet after a few more pets, Sumo settled down onto Nines’s lap. After ensuring that his body was at a suitable temperature for Sumo to relax, Nines went back into his thoughts. He just realized that nearly half of the list was composed of things he liked about Detective Reed. It was… rather jarring, at first, but as he thought about it, Nines felt that could be justified. He had only started the list a few days ago, and so far he’s only experienced a few things that were actually rather nice, in his opinion. And with Detective Reed becoming somewhat friendly towards him, that would be the reason as to why Nines had a multitude of things that he liked about the detective.

Although, he was quite concerned about the fact that it wasn’t just _“Detective Reed”_ with a number of sub-items underneath it, telling him what he actually liked about the detective, unlike Hank, Connor, and Sumo’s files. Was it because he didn’t actually like Detective Reed? Nines did not know, but he did not think that was the case. He actually thought that once he got to know the detective, there was more about him to admire than to detest.

If that statement still held true whenever they got back to their job, Nines would be pleasantly surprised.

After a bit of consideration, Nines transferred the items specifically about Detective Reed into another list in order to save up space on his original list. He named it _‘Things I Like About Detective Reed’_ \- a fitting and efficient name. Although… he could always just… Nines looked around, eyes settling on Sumo’s lovely form. He stroked the dog’s fur, Sumo panting happily on Nines’s lap. 

“What do you think, Sumo?”

Sumo boofed in agreement, despite not hearing nor knowing what Nines was asking him about. Nines didn’t really mind too much, however, and quickly changed the name of the list to _‘Things I Like About You, Babe’._ It was… quite nice, actually. From what Nines had gathered, calling someone ‘babe’ was a sign of affection among partners, so he was glad that he and Detective Reed called each other that.

Nines reviewed his memories of Detective Reed, from oldest to the most recent. He didn’t really like their earliest encounters, since most of which had to do with being unnoticed and being ordered to get coffee like an android pre-revolution, but the most recent memories were nice. It was Detective Reed trying to find out what was wrong with him, Detective Reed congratulating him for a job well done, Detective Reed calling him ‘babe’... they were nice memories. Memories that he was abruptly cut from due to a sudden text from the detective himself.

 **_Detective Reed [5:01]:_ ** _hey  
_ ** _Detective Reed [5:01]:_ ** _u up?  
_ ** _RK900 [5:01]:_ ** _Yes, detective. May I ask why are you up this early in the morning?  
_ ** _Detective Reed [5:02]:_ ** _ok 1st of all u can call me gavin ok?  
_ ** _RK900 [5:02]:_ ** _Of course, Gavin.  
_ ** _Detective Reed [5:02]:_ ** _im usually awake at this point already so there’s not much to say dusbdjnrkrkepk  
_ ** _Detective Reed [5:03]:_ ** _anyway  
_ ** _Detective Reed [5:03]:_ ** _u wanna go to that bar i mentioned earlier? it should be open in a few hours  
_ ** _RK900 [5:03]:_ ** _I never took you for the kind to go day drinking, Detective.  
_ ** _Detective Reed [5:03]:_ ** _gavin  
_ ** _Detective Reed [5:03]:_ ** _and i usually dont i just felt like drinking today its our day off after all lmao  
_ ** _RK900 [5:03]:_ ** _I will think about it.  
_ ** _Detective Reed [5:03]:_ ** _kk_  
 ** _Detective Reed [5:04]:_ ** _txt me whenever ur feelin up to it  
_ ** _RK900 [5:04]:_ ** _I will, Gavin._

Well, that was an interesting conversation. It might have been the longest conversation that Nines had ever had with Detective Reed off the case. He figured that since he didn’t really have plans made with Connor and Hank, that he could maybe ask them once they woke up. Or… he could leave a note on the counter, telling them that he had plans. He noticed that Hank usually did that for Connor whenever he did something he knew Connor wouldn’t approve of, like going to the Chicken Feed for breakfast.

Nines decided to give it a shot, taking a pen and a piece of paper, trying again and again. Everything he wrote just seemed too formal. _‘I decided to go with Detective Reed to have a drink or two.’_ Ugh. No. It sounds a bit too much like… what did Detective Reed say? A pretentious prick? _(Nines didn’t actually need to ask that question, as an android he has perfect memory.)_ He settled on a simple note.

_‘Went out to meet with Gavin. See you later. - Nines’_

After taping the note to the fridge, Nines went to his room to get some fresh clothes. He decided to take a dark button-up shirt, instead of his usual uniform with the sharp collar. It was quite refreshing to be out and about without that thing that always caused him to look so perfect. For once in his life, Nines didn’t want to be perfect. He just wanted to be enough.

Deeming himself good enough, Nines gave Sumo a few more pets, then headed out the door. He texted Gavin that he was available today, and would really like to see what Gavin had in store. Gavin replied after a few minutes, and in those few minutes, Nines was able to go to that coffee shop that Gavin liked for some reason. He texted him to meet him there, then after they got some shots of coffee, they could head to the bar. Gavin said _‘i lov you so much thx ur a blessing’,_ and Nines shook his head, reserving two seats for both him and the detective.

And while waiting, Nines thought that maybe for once, he didn’t have to be perfect to be seen as a person. He smiled at the thought, humming a tune that he heard Gavin play repeatedly on his car’s stereo system.

_Changed contact ‘Detective Reed’ to ‘Babe <3’ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you know when you go to sleep thinking everything is fine and then you suddenly wake up at 2am realizing that you actually did not post an update to the thing you were supposed to update weekly
> 
> yeah, same


	6. Gavin Reed is Weirdly Nice Today

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin goes to a bar with Nines and uses Twenty Questions an interrogation tactic to get some answers about Nines.

Gavin didn't really know what he expected when he saw Nines at the coffee shop. Maybe he'd expected him to wear his worn out uniform, maybe be as stiff as a rod, but that wasn't the case. Nines sat there on a table for two, reading over the menu, back slightly slouching in his seat, his hair not as perfect as it used to be when he saw him at work. He just looked… so relaxed.

If Gavin didn't know any better, he might've said that Nines was actually attractive when he looked like this.

He paused for a moment, taking in the view before Nines caught him looking and waved him over. Gavin walked over to the android, sitting across from him while he glanced at the menu. Nines didn't mention how Gavin stared at him, he only asked Gavin for drink recommendations.

"I dunno, the only other android I hang out with is Connor and he only drinks the thirium hot chocolate." Gavin said while counting his cash. He'd have to save on some groceries if he really wanted that caffe mocha with that little bit of extra sugar to boost his energy. Nines seemed to take notice of this however, and almost nervously shook his head.

"I'm paying for this one, Detective. It was my idea after all." Nines gave him a half-smile. Almost like a smirk if the hesitation wasn't clear on the androids face.

Gavin looked at him strangely, acquiescing silently. Nines seemed to smile slightly brighter after that.

* * *

After several shots of his lifeblood, Gavin had brought Nines down to the bar that he found. Liquid Courage was kinda a cliche name, in Gavin's opinion, but it suited the bar well. From what Gavin read about this place, it had the GoodStuff™. He had, in fact, invited Connor to check this place out with him once, but was shot down when Connor said that he had plans to hang out with Nines. Gavin had given him shit for it, but now he didn't really think that he was in the position to tell Connor when and when not to hang out with his brother. _Especially if said brother has issues._

Gavin found them seats right in front of the bar, reading off some of the drinks and telling Nines what was in them, how much of whatever the fuck was in them, all that shit. Nines looked thoroughly impressed that Gavin knew a lot about these drinks, and sure, Gavin knew that Nines could probably just look these drinks up, but what was the fun in that? 

"So the long island iced tea isn't iced tea at all. It's got triple sec, vodka, white rum, white tequila, gin, and some cola. It kinda tastes like cola with some sorta orange and lemon juice, but it hits like a motherfucker." Gavin explained. "Now, I'm not too sure if you can get drunk or something, but if you wanna do it without the taste of liquor, long island's the way to go."

Nines seemed deep in thought, occasionally mumbling out some words like _'intriguing'_ and _'fun'_ . After a while, Nines finally decided to try out some rum, wanting to get a taste of liquor before he decided to hate it or something. Gavin complied, and despite Nines insisting that he paid for this _(“Consider this as my apology for blowing you off the other day.” Seriously, who taught this kid to be apologetic for every minor inconvenience? If it were Gavin, he’d have blown up at this point.),_ they compromised and split the bill.

Gavin, who was slightly tipsy, just as tipsy as Nines was, decided to play a game of twenty questions, because he didn’t fucking know a single thing about the android. Nines had suggested that they played truth or dare, like in the TV shows that Hank had occasionally played for them, but Gavin said that they’d both probably only say truth and it’d be a game of twenty questions anyway. Nines didn’t see the flaws in his logic _(Gavin Reed was logical at times),_ and relented.

At first, they just asked the basic questions. Gavin learned that Nines’s favorite color was forest green, that Nines liked to read physical books in his spare time. He also learned that despite not ever needing to cook, he taught himself how to cook just in case he woke up before Connor, which was technically all the time. And then, as their remaining questions and alcohol drained, Gavin started asking the deeper questions.

“What do you want to achieve in life?” Gavin asked. Nines looked back at him with surprise, which was fair, considering that their previous questions were about the little things like movies they liked and songs they listened to often.

“I…” Nines sputtered slightly, his LED flicking between yellow and red for a few short moments. Gavin gave him all the time he needed. It was their day-offs, and it was like, nine in the morning, so Gavin knew that he had time. When Nines finally spoke up again, his LED had settled on a cautious yellow. “I don’t know.”

Gavin only raised an eyebrow.

“I… I don’t know what I want to achieve in life. There has never been anything that I have wanted more than to be _enough_ for everyone I care about, but lately I… I’ve been giving up on that.”

Gavin wanted to ask why. He really did. But that would most likely end their game of twenty questions earlier than Gavin would’ve liked, and he still had so many questions that he wanted the answers to, so he kept his mouth shut. He nodded his head in understanding though. “Well, it’s your turn.”

Nines didn’t say anything for a while. For a while, the only sounds that could be heard were the clinks and clatters of glasses, the occasional small talk from all around them, and the muffled yet still there bustling streets of Detroit. Gavin took a look at both his and Nines’s glasses. His was practically still full, while Nines’s was almost empty. 

Gavin saw it as a clear parallel to themselves. Nines probably knew a whole lot about Gavin. Hell, maybe more than he’d have liked, but that’s because Gavin was bold. Brash. Whenever he wanted attention, he demanded it until it was given to him. He was full of bravado, strong enough to cause headaches in most people, just as his glass filled with vodka was enough to cause major hangovers. Nines was a blank slate. No one knew who he was, no one _cared_ who he was, completely unaware of the person hiding beneath that mask of indifference. Nines was just as his nearly empty glass of rum was, bare. Barren, but there were still scraps of who he was for those who looked close enough.

Gavin didn’t know if he was philosophizing about their glasses because he was drunk or because he desperately wanted to connect with Nines. He didn’t know the reason for that either, but he just went on with it, thinking that if that happened, the feelings in his chest might go fuck off or whatever.

“What do you…” Nines suddenly spoke up, alerting Gavin to his presence within his vicinity. Nines was slouched over the bar, staring idly at his whiskey, his hair disheveled as if he’d been running his hand through there so much as to remove every little bit of perfection from his being. “...what do you want to do after our partnership is over?”

“I dunno. Probably go back to work as usual.” Gavin chugged his drink, hoping that the vodka would do its job and get him to loosen up enough to tell Nines what he really wanted to tell him. "But, I kinda don't want to stop being your partner."

Nines looked up at him in surprise, his LED flashing yellow, but he didn't say anything. Gavin took that as a sign to continue. "You're really useful for when we need to get shit done fast, plus I've actually kinda begun to like you."

Nines took a moment to process that, sipping from his glass of rum despite there being nothing left. After that, Nines only hummed in response. "I believe it's your turn."

"Right." Gavin sighed. He had two questions left, so he really had to make them count. "Why did you change so suddenly?"

Nines looked startled to be asked that question, but he remained silent. He stared at his empty glass, LED a vibrant red, before looking up at Gavin and sighing.

"I figured, that if everyone just wanted to ignore me until there was no other option, I would do the same to them."

Gavin paused for a moment. He didn't …? No, surely he didn't… but then again, he had practically no memories of Nines. The only memories he had were asking him to go get him coffee, then focusing back on whatever the fuck he was doing. Hank's words slowly came back to him, like a freight train rushing towards him.

_"It’s not his fault that he doesn’t talk to anybody, because frankly, we were all assholes back then.”_

"Fuck.” Gavin decided to gulp down the rest of his drink. He didn't need to feel anyway. Nines didn't even bother reacting, his face as stone cold as it had been when they first found him. Gavin wiped his mouth, preemptively clutching onto the bar just in case he toppled over. "Your turn, tin can."

"...why did _you_ suddenly change? What happened that made you suddenly care?"

Gavin should've really expected that one. But really, everything he knew about Nines was wrong so he figured that the android wouldn't ask, but Gavin guessed that he couldn't really deny that an RK900 model, supposedly the best of their kind, would ask all the right questions, whether Gavin had expected him to or not.

"Honestly? I just wanted to figure out what was wrong with you. You looked... so _distressed_ that day. And then, as I got to see more, I just… I just wanted to help you out."

Gavin sighed at Nines's lack of response, but he continued, because fuck it, if Nines wanted the whole story, Gavin Reed would fucking give it to him. "I know that it's been like… three days since we've been partners but… I dunno, there's just… somethin' about you that draws me to you."

Nines stared at Gavin for a little while. Gavin started to feel this… tension, all over him. It became almost overwhelming. It felt like despite all of the goddamn noise all over the place, the only sound he could hear was his own heartbeat.

And then Nines kissed him.

At first, he was surprised because _what the fuck._ And then slowly, he warmed up to the kiss, kissing his partner deeper, and more passionately, up until-

Gavin broke away and pushed Nines back, causing him to fall. Gavin looked at Nines with wide eyes and flushed cheeks. "What the _fuck?"_

Nines seemed to suddenly realize what happened before standing up abruptly, backing away while his LED spun red, red, red. "I-I-I-I- My apologies, Detective Reed, I seem to have misjudged your reaction."

Nines then left the bar, leaving Gavin to stare at his partner as he fled the scene. The human detective touched his lips. What did he want? He got the answers he was looking for, so why the hell did he still want to know more about Nines? Gavin then realized rather quickly what the fuck he wanted. He sighed into his hands, before getting up and out of the bar, headed straight home.

 _Of course I'd feel attracted to him. Right after I pushed him away._ Gavin thought bitterly.

Gavin went to bed, expecting to be hella hungover the next morning. He sighed once again, debated about texting Nines about how he really felt, then stubbornly turned his phone off.


	7. Gavin Reed is A Hot Mess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin tries to go on with his day after what happened at the bar yesterday.

After the shit show that was yesterday’s not-date, Gavin had been doing his best to avoid anything that he could relate to Nines. He hadn’t really taken into account how much that kiss would’ve affected him, but now he just accepted it. _Okay,_ so what if he had a crush on his partner? Then Fowler would just separate him from the one person who he didn’t annoy too much to force either a switch or a transfer. Gavin sighed into his hands as he stood up from his seat in his car.

He still had that shitty hangover from yesterday, but that’s what he got for pushing away the good things in his life. Gavin walked into the precinct, his face set to _‘do NOT fucking talk to me or I swear to god I will murder you’_ and headed straight for the break room. A couple of officers scattered away from him, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire of whatever the fuck had pissed Reed off this time. Gavin took his mug and filled it with coffee. He looked around the precinct, just trying to get a scan of the building so he knew where the best place to avoid Nines would be, but was surprised to not see the android in sight. He brushed it off as him being off elsewhere, hell, maybe he was in Fowler’s office requesting a transfer right now, and headed back to his desk.

The only thing that kept him still awake and cognizant of his surroundings was his coffee, and even then he didn’t spot the little pill bottle until he knocked it over. He bent down to reach it, and saw that it was some more ibuprofen, with a note that said _‘If you need it’_ , written in that same Cyberlife Sans that Nines used on the note prior. Gavin would’ve thought that it was the same note if the handwriting didn’t seem a bit shaky. 

He sighed as he popped the pills anyway, downing his cup of coffee before turning over to Connor’s desk, where he presumed Nines was. He wasn’t. Instead, Gavin found Connor sitting at his terminal, chatting in low tones with Anderson, his LED a solid yellow. Seeing no purpose in intruding on their family shit, Gavin decided to work on the damn case for once. There had been no other murders nor evidence to connect them or lead them to the killer, so Gavin just filed paperwork. Having done this time and time again, Gavin knew what the fuck he needed to write, and what he didn’t, so it came as a surprise to him when rereading the report _(always reread your damn reports! You don’t know how much shit you miss until you’ve reread it at least once!)_ to find something that wasn’t supposed to be there.

_‘I miss you a lot, Nines.’_

Gavin spit out his coffee all over the screen, which was actually just a holograph so he guessed he actually spit it through the screen, but that wasn’t the problem. No, the problem was that he was letting his feelings bleed into his work. He hastily deleted the line of text, then reviewed the rest of the document to find more signs of his thoughts bleeding through. He found some more lines like _‘not as blue as your eyes’_ and _‘you could probably take her’,_ which he immediately removed from the document. Once he’d reviewed it a couple more times, he sighed as he sent it to Fowler.

With the knowledge that he can’t get his partner out of his mind, Gavin just sat on his chair, feet propped on the table, and thought about what the fuck it was about his partner that got him so… _attracted_. They didn’t actually hang out for too long, in fact, they’ve hung out for like… two days, or something, but there had to be something about Nines that kept Gavin wanting more, right?

He thought about how shy Nines seemed when they first met. How distressed he looked every time Gavin would snap at him. And then he thought about how when he found out that there was something up with him, he saw how reluctant Nines was to warm up to him. How his brow was always furrowed. It was as if Nines thought that if he did anything to mildly annoy the human detective, he would go back to being aggressive. 

Gavin huffed as he stood up and walked over to the exit, fishing in his pockets for his cigarettes and his lighter. “Smoke break.” He said as he finally got one out and threw the doors open. Nobody stopped him, as usual.

He let out a puff of smoke as he stared into the dark Detroit sky. It looked like it would rain either tonight or tomorrow, based on how dark the sky was. It wasn’t too dark, but it definitely looked like it was about to fucking rain so hard that he’d have to put up a shit ton of mats so that it wouldn’t flood in his room. He scowled at the thought of waking up to find that he had to wade through wet carpet that he wouldn’t even know was wet until he actually stepped on it.

Wanting to get away from all the shitty thoughts, he decided to just walk around. Walking around always helped clear his nerves whenever a simple smoke couldn’t, so why not, right? It wasn’t like he had too much to lose. Besides, his gun remained in his holster. He’d be fine as long as he kept his guard up. Gavin sighed a breath of smoke, his mind wandering everywhere, but at the same time, kept going back to Nines.

What would Nines have done if he saw Gavin in this situation? Would he have helped him calm down, or would he have just stepped aside like everyone else? While Gavin would’ve liked the first situation, he knew that wasn’t an option anymore. After pushing him away, Nines probably fled back into his shell and would’ve done anything to get away from Gavin. Not that he could blame the android. Gavin often knew when he was a huge asshole, and this was one of those times. He’d be lucky if Nines wouldn’t go back to ignoring him again.

Gavin shook his head, clearing away the thoughts, smacking himself in the face. He was supposed to keep his guard up, yet here he was, wandering aimlessly free for any random mugger to come beat him up and steal his shit _(not that he had anything of value on him, he was smart enough to leave all that shit either at home or at the precinct)._ He stopped in front of a stop sign, because why the fuck not, and pulled out his phone. Nines still hadn’t texted him back first, but that was expected.

Gavin looked across the street and saw Liquid Courage again. The memories of Nines running through the very same doors still fresh in his mind, Gavin frowned. Looking both ways and trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, he went straight ahead towards the bar, with a quick _“Fuck it.”_

As he entered the bar, more memories came flying back at him. Memories of telling Nines what the drinks were, of playing twenty questions, of the _damn kiss_. The kiss, in which he kissed back, but pushed him away. Guilt gnawed at him, but he figured that he had the right to react like that! He didn’t really know Nines that well, he had standards! ...So why was the guilt still there? Huffing again, he scanned the room for any signs of the tall android. He only found tall androids who were not Nines, and the scowling bartender who pointed at the ‘no smoking’ sign right next to the door. 

Gavin headed out and tried to walk back to the precinct. The walk back was quiet, but not the nice kind of quiet. It was the quiet of being left alone in the dark. It was the quiet of being abandoned. It was the quiet of being truly alone. Gavin wallowed in self-pity, pulling his phone out, just _trying_ to send a message to Nines. Swallowing his pride, Gavin sent him a message.

 **_Gavin [12:55]:_ ** _hey  
_ **_Gavin [12:55]:_ ** _sorry abt the bar thng  
_ **_Gavin [12:55]:_ ** _i just panicked ok??  
_ **_Gavin [12:55]:_ ** _dont beat urself up over it  
_ **_Gavin [12:56]:_ ** _we aight??_

He slid his phone back in his pocket, unable to bear the waiting that he’d have to endure to even get it read, let alone receive a reply. Gavin kicked at the air, not knowing what to do. Technically, he was supposed to be out here on his lunch break, not to walk around for nearly a whole hour without eating anything. He stopped by the place that served the GoodCoffee™, because he sure as hell wasn’t gonna be able to eat right now, before finally heading back to the precinct.

Once he returned, the precinct was bustling with movement, filled with his coworkers’ chattering and jabs being exchanged. The clicks of keyboards and the distinct sound of mugs being picked up and placed back down on a desk were audible, yet still Gavin felt that something was wrong. He glanced back at Nines’s desk. Still no sign of Nines. When Connor glanced at him, he ignored him, instead focusing on the terminal ahead of him. He had a long day ahead of him.

* * *

And just like that, it was time for them to go home. Gavin grabbed his things and walked out of the precinct without even a single word exchanged between him and his coworkers. As soon as he got out, Connor sped up to follow him. He sighed and turned around to face him.

“What?” Gavin muttered as he brought out another cigarette, which Connor frowned at.

“Detective Reed.” Connor nodded at him, his brows furrowed and LED spinning a concerned yellow. “I just… really had to ask about your partnership with Nines.”

“What about it?”

“It’s just… he was so- he was so distant this morning. He didn’t even wake up before us, which is extremely unusual for him.” Connor brought out a coin, which he immediately began fidgeting with. As far as Gavin could tell, Connor didn’t do it often, but when he did it usually was because something serious was going on. Gavin stood a bit straighter at that. “I was wondering if anything happened between you two?”

 _The kiss. That damn kiss that fucking ripped us apart._ Gavin thought bitterly. He tried to maintain a poker face, but judging by how Connor’s features morphed, he didn’t do a good job at it. The android waited for his response, but Gavin didn’t know what to say.

What would he even say? That Nines kissed him first, he kissed back, then pushed him away? That he got Nines to open up to him, only to shove him off his chair? No, he couldn’t say that. Connor would fucking kill him for that. So he did what he always did best.

“You implyin’ somethin’, plastic?” Gavin snarled at Connor. The android seemed surprised, and despite his superior strength and reflexes or whatever, he let himself be pushed to the ground by Gavin. “Mind your own business!”

Connor looked up at him with those brown doe eyes, which shifted from soft and betrayed to hard and cold. He stood up, brushing himself off and putting his hands behind his back. “We used to be so close. And yet, you’re pushing me away again, because you’re afraid of the truth, aren’t you?”

Gavin stepped back, his cigarette long-forgotten falling to the ground. He felt that he was cornered, despite the fact that they were in an open area. In true Gavin fashion, he did whatever he did whenever he felt threatened - pull out his gun. “I’m warning you!”

Connor didn’t even bother to move away. In fact, he pushed his head closer to the barrel of the gun, his forehead pressing directly against it. “Something happened between you two, and you’re back to threatening me because you don’t want me to find out. But trust me, Detective. I’m not afraid of you. Not anymore.”

The android walked closer to him, and Gavin kept stepping backwards until his back hit a wall. His shaky hand still had the gun trained on Connor’s forehead, yet he couldn’t. _He couldn’t shoot him_. He knew that before, he would’ve shot without any second thoughts, but now he knew that he just couldn’t. If Connor was right about one thing, it was that they used to be so close. Gavin could’ve even called Connor his friend, and now here he was, threatening to blow his robo-brains out. His breathing grew rapid, tears threatening to spill from his eyes. He put the gun away, shouting a loud “Fuck!” before walking away from Connor.

Connor continued to stare at him even as he left. 

* * *

Gavin got back to his apartment, tears that he wanted to keep unshed now pouring freely. He tossed his things onto the couch, ignoring Asshole’s cries as he headed straight to his bedroom. He picked up his cat, keeping him close to his chest. He ignored his cat’s relentless scratching, knowing full well that he probably deserved it. Once he calmed down enough to be able to speak, he pulled Asshole out so that he was arms distance away from him.

“I fucked up, Asshole.” Gavin tried to say as confidently as he could. “I fucking… I fucking messed up and I- I don’t know how to fix it.”

Gavin broke down as he pushed his cat back towards his chest. The cat didn’t seem to like that, and left as soon as he got the chance. Gavin laughed bitterly at that. Of course he’d leave when he needed him most. Because that’s how things were with Gavin Reed. Either he’d leave when the other needed him most, or they’d leave whenever he needed them.

Gavin tried sobbing himself to sleep, before he took note of the sound of cat-like footsteps climbing the stairs on the side of his building. Gavin reluctantly stood up, checking out the balcony. The doors rustled as he opened them and he cursed at the loud sounds they made. He really needed to get that fixed or something. As soon as he got out, Gavin stood on the balcony and looked around. Seeing no one there, he headed back inside, locked and closed the door, then promptly fell asleep.

His dreams were filled with visions of what he and Nines could’ve been, and when Gavin woke up, he cried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, so the next work in this series is just [a little side story from Nines's perspective](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25422394/chapters/61653961), which could maybe(?) help with finding out why what happens in the next chapter happens. It's totally optional though, and I'm sure y'all can make the connections p easily!! Y'all're detectives, right?


	8. Gavin Reed is Not Okay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin fixes himself up after last night's shit show. Apparently, there is a god and that god hates him, because he's suddenly pulled away by Connor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha y'know when you forget to post a chapter on the day that you were supposed to?? yeah,,, anyway, hope y'all enjoy this delayed chapter, m'dudes~

Gavin has certainly seen better days, but this wasn’t the worst one, he thought.

After he fixed himself up from last night’s crying session, he continued his morning routine robotically. Make coffee, feed the cat, shower. Get dressed, trim his stupid fucking stubble that won’t grow out to be a beard, skip breakfast. It took Gavin a few moments to realize that it was drizzling. When did that happen? Gavin checked the weather app on his phone, noting that it’d probably be storming for a few hours. He shook his head and grabbed one of his other hoodies, the one that was actually water-resistant. After putting that on, he looked at the time, noting that he’d already been fifteen minutes late, but he didn’t bother to rush. Who was gonna chew him out, Fowler? Anderson? Connor?

The light drizzle from before became a somewhat harsher rain, and the human detective walked calmly through the rain, his hood up, eyes pointed to the ground. He got into the precinct sluggishly, only grunting when he was greeted by the receptionists. As soon as he got to his desk, he immediately collapsed into his chair, his head in his hands as he thought about all the damn shit that happened during the past few days. How the fuck could someone fuck up this badly? Gavin didn’t know.

Noting the distinct lack of coffee on his desk, Gavin groaned as he stood up and headed off to the breakroom. He pulled out his mug and absentmindedly made his coffee, his thoughts currently focused on both the case and whether or not he’d find out that Nines had requested a transfer or something. It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility, Gavin was a genuine asshole, and most people could only take so much before they reached their breaking point. Gavin assumed that the kiss was Nines’s breaking point.

“You look like shit, Gav.” Tina said, snapping him out of his thoughts.

He only scoffed in response. “When don’t I ever?”

Tina shook her head as she waited for the toaster to pop up her poptart or whatever. Gavin didn’t really know what the fuck Tina ate these days, and at this point, he was too tired to ask. She looked at him even closer, frowning at what she saw. “You alright, Gav? You haven’t looked this bad since…”

“Yeah.” He lied, because that was the only thing he could think of doing. “I’m fine, Tee. Honest.”

Tina looked like she didn’t believe him, which wasn’t a new thing to him, but she thankfully dropped the conversation and went back to waiting for the toaster to finish preparing her snack. The coffee machine finished before the toaster, and Gavin poured himself a cup of coffee. 

_ God. Can’t even call it ‘holy bean juice’ anymore. Guess I might be feelin’ shittier than I thought.  _ Gavin noted in his mind as he went back to his terminal. As usual, people glanced at him with concerned looks in their eyes, but a simple glare from him got their heads to turn away. 

The only exception was Connor.

As soon as Gavin got to his desk, Connor immediately stood up and sat on Nines’s desk, with concern filling his features. Even without looking into it too much, Gavin could tell that the concern wasn’t directed towards him, which he appreciated.

“Good morning, Detective Reed.” Connor stated, his LED yellow. Gavin only raised an eyebrow in response.

“How was your talk with Nines last night?”

Gavin was hella confused. Talk with Nines? Last night? He didn’t remember talking with Nines last night. In fact, he didn’t think he even saw Nines at all after the kiss. He furrowed his brows, pulling out his phone. Connor’s expression mirrored his, but there was also curiosity within those brown eyes. Gavin chose to ignore them, instead opening up his messages with Nines. As he expected, there were no new messages.

“Look. I dunno what he told you, but we didn’t talk last night. The last thing I did after we… after I… I went home and cried myself to sleep.” Gavin fumbled with his words, almost whispering that last part.

Connor’s LED now spun yellow, red, red, yellow, red. It kinda reminded Gavin of Nines for some reason. “Th-That can’t be right, Detective.”

“You can scan me, right?” Gavin scoffed. “You got a lie-detector and a breathalyzer, doncha? Tell me that I’m wrong.” 

Gavin offered his cup of coffee to Connor, to do his freaky data analysis thing with his mouth. Connor’s LED still spun that same pattern, but then after a single yellow spin, it continuously spun red. The android stuttered so much that Gavin couldn’t understand whether the twink can was saying something or just mumbling gibberish. Could androids keysmash but with their mouths? That was something he’d have to ask Ni-  _ oh wait.  _ They’re probably not on the best terms right now. Fuck.

“Ya done, Tin Can? Because I’ve actually gotta check through these files to see if there’s any more leads on the killer.” Gavin lazily sipped from his coffee mug, not caring that Connor just stuck his tongue in here. He normally would’ve thrown it out by now, but he couldn’t be bothered to stand up and throw away the coffee in the sink and get a new one.

Connor proceeded to stutter, before he abruptly got up and slammed his hands onto Gavin’s shoulders, nearly pushing him off his chair. “The fuck is wrong with you?!”

“I talked with Nines yesterday! He said he was at your apartment building, he even sent me a ping from your address!” Connor began pushing him, which of course Gavin tried to fight back, despite knowing from the start that it was a losing battle.

Connor successfully pushed him off his chair and was now grappling with the human detective on the floor. There were gasps of shock, people murmuring around them, but Gavin didn’t bother dealing with them. He just pushed as much as he could against Connor, and when that didn’t work, he began punching him in his stupid plastic face. Connor’s head was pushed back with each strike, yet kept returning to its original place - staring directly at Gavin with anger, annoyance, and all that shit that Gavin was already familiar with.

After all, he hated himself enough to know those emotions by heart.

“Well he wasn’t there at my place, okay?!” Gavin snarled back. “He wasn’t there, and if he was, he didn’t say shit to me, so fuck off!”

“Connor! Reed! In my office,  _ now!”  _ The angry voice of Captain Fowler pierced through whatever argument they were having, but Connor only growled and ran out of the fucking precinct with Gavin in tow. “Did you bring a car, Reed?”

Gavin scoffed, not even bothering to struggle against Connor’s vice grip. “No, I fucking walked here.”

Connor’s LED spun an even angrier red, if that was even possible, and then he began darting towards Gavin’s apartment. The harsh rain pelted their skin, a stark contrast to the light drizzle that was this morning. Gavin struggled to keep up, noticing how Connor’s grip hadn’t loosened once throughout their whole trip there. “Could you just tell me what the everloving fuck is going on?!”

Connor stopped in the middle of the street, glaring at Gavin. Gavin glared back. “Nines could be on the roof of your apartment, possibly experiencing the android equivalent of hypothermia.” Gavin’s eyes widened as he processed this information.  _ Shit. _ “If you don’t care about him that much, then I guess I’ll head there by myself.”

The android then ran towards his apartment without another word, leaving Gavin to process the fact that Nines was  _ willingly  _ getting himself cold as shit, to the point where he might even fucking  _ die _ . Gavin shook his head before he cursed and ran after Connor. “Hey dipshit! Over here! There’s a better way of getting there!”

Connor looked surprised, but he immediately followed Gavin. Gavin hopped up on the dumpster, jumping over a fence, running through the alleyways that led to his apartment. Connor showed no signs of stopping, the only changes that Gavin could gleam from a quick look back was that his LED turned yellow for a few moments. 

Gavin ran and ran, not bothering to deal with whatever the fuck Connor was thinking. Sure, he may have accidentally ruined whatever he had with Nines, but he wasn’t gonna let him  _ die _ . He was his partner, and partners took care of each other. As soon as he saw his apartment building, he immediately made a sharp turn towards the stairs. He couldn’t see much of Nines from here, but he figured if he was truly up there, he’d see him once he got onto the roof.

Connor ignored the stairs, instead choosing to scale the fucking wall, using pipes and the stairs as places to perch his feet and grab onto. Gavin would’ve scoffed something like  _ ‘fucking androids’  _ if he weren’t scared for Nines’s safety. In the end, Connor got there first, and judging by his scream of  _ “Nines!”,  _ it wasn’t looking good.

Gavin cursed as he yanked his hoodie off, hoping that it’d keep Nines somewhat warmer. Once he got up there, his heart stopped in his chest as he surveyed the scene. Nines didn’t look at either of them, simply staring far out into the distance as Connor manhandled him. Gavin tossed Connor his jacket, before heading down and unlocking the side door that he checked before. He  _ knew  _ he should’ve checked upstairs! If he did, then maybe Nines wouldn’t’ve…

Shaking his head, he immediately turned on his shitty ass heater, hoping that it’d make a difference in Nines’s temperature. Connor immediately dragged Nines inside, placing him on the couch. Gavin noticed that his hoodie was simply placed around Nines’s frame, and Nines himself was still staring vacantly ahead of him. Connor tried talking to Nines, not getting a response. After a few moments, his LED turned yellow, seemingly talking in interface or whatever.

Seeing as it seemed like Connor had it handled, Gavin left the room. A vibration in his pocket made him jump, and he sighed as soon as he saw that Captain Fowler was calling. He accepted the call, immediately pulling the phone away from his ear. He turned it to speakerphone, seeing as he had other shit to do that required both of his hands.

“Reed! You have  _ five minutes  _ to explain why the fuck you and Connor just ran out of the precinct as if there were bloodhounds hunting you, or else I’ll have your badges!”

“Nines stayed up on the roof of my apartment without either of us knowing, Cap.” Gavin said as he rifled through some of his blankets he had. “He’s basically going through the android equivalent of hypothermia.”

Fowler said nothing at that. Gavin sighed as he grabbed all the blankets, balancing them on the towels he took from his bathroom. “Look, I gotta go and make sure that one of your top-tier androids doesn’t fucking freeze to death, call me later.”

Gavin didn’t give his captain a chance to respond, cutting off the call. He nodded to Connor, who just finished undressing Nines. Gavin took one look at Nines’s pale frame and winced, the cold somehow tinged his skin a light blue color. “I’ve got some blankets and towels. What else do I have to do?”

Connor immediately grabbed a towel and patted Nines’s wet body, gesturing for Gavin to do as he did. Gavin did so without complaint. After all, Connor seemed like this had happened before. Or was it just because he could research hypothermia and how to help someone with that? Gavin didn’t know, and he had the feeling that he didn’t want to. Once Connor had deemed Nines dry enough, he asked if Gavin could spare him some clothes. Gavin agreed immediately, though he doubted that he had any clothes that’d be a perfect fit for Nines. He figured that he’d just have to settle for that then.

Immediately taking off into his bedroom, Gavin surveyed his closet, taking a couple of shirts, hoodies, and pants, hesitating before taking a scarf and leaving the room. He handed the items to Connor, who immediately took whatever he deemed fit for Nines, putting them on him. Gavin helped too, kinda. He was still reeling from the fact that Nines just… did this to himself.

He swallowed as he instantly got some of the blankets and wrapped it around Nines’s still frame, giving the android a little pat on the back that was supposed to be comforting. Whether he was comforting Nines or himself, he didn’t know.

Connor went out to get some form of thirium drinks after Gavin told him that he didn’t have any. Gavin offered his card, which Connor politely declined. The RK800 moved towards the door and hesitated, before walking towards Gavin, who stood awkwardly in front of his brother. “Gavin.”

Gavin jumped at that, before rubbing his arm and muttering something as some form of response.

“I might be a while. I’m not too sure if this is too much to ask of you, but could you just… stay with Nines?” Connor asked with those puppy dog eyes of his.

Gavin scoffed. “Of course I’m staying. I’m not gonna fuckin’ leave your brother 'specially when he could be fuckin’ dying. I know I’m an asshole but I’m not  _ that  _ much of an asshole.”

“No, I meant…” Connor’s LED spun yellow for a few moments. “I meant that you stayed close to him. Physical contact tends to help in times like these.”

Gavin stood there quietly, before looking up at Connor, his voice merely a whisper. “I don’t think he’d like me too much.”

Gavin could’ve sworn that he saw Nines’s LED flash a quick red before going back to that dull-looking blue. Connor’s LED flashed red for the same amount of time, and the android sighed. “I know he will. He’s been wanting this for a while. Just, please.”

The human detective looked over at Nines, staring dead ahead while wrapped in a bundle of blankets and a warm compress on his head. Nines seemed to look over at him pleadingly, and Gavin thought that it was the very least he could do. If he somehow managed to help Nines out of whatever the fuck this was, he’d take that chance. Sighing, Gavin went up to Nines and wrapped him in a warm embrace, laying the both of them down in such a way that Nines was on top of him. 

Contrary to popular belief, Nines wasn’t as heavy as his predecessor, in fact, he was almost human-like in weight. Gavin wondered if this was because he was more advanced and to help him with his speed. Gavin then also wondered if that was the reason he got cold so easily. Connor simply smiled at Gavin, both melancholy and a soft look on his face. He began to walk out the door, but not before saying three words. Gavin could've sworn that he heard Nines's voice as Connor said it.

“Thank you, Gavin.”

With that, Connor left the apartment, and Gavin fell asleep after a few silent moments.


	9. ]N⸸e®¿ud£: UnfE€L/n& 》 N!ne$

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> N͍͝i͎̦̰̰͉͖n̙̰̭̬͎̤͟e̮̥s̝͔͈ ̹̤͚͙̲̪w̡̖͈̻a҉̹̰̳͕̣ͅs͔̮̝̣̠͜ ̪͔̦̞̣̞c̯o͉͔̯̰̯l̲͕̞͉͍̻͟d̡͙̤̹̪̯.̡

**JUNE 1, 2039 - 08:36:59**

**? >** **° in D** **€** **tro!t, Mic#ig@n, [error! missing variable: temp_prev]` waRm3r th4n yesTeP\qaY**

Nines watched silently as both Connor and Detective Reed fussed over him. He wanted to say that he did not require help, that he could have just gone down the stairs on his own. However, he could no longer hear, and that meant that he would not be able to hear what came out of his voice box. He did not want them to worry about him anymore than they already were. He did not deserve their worries.

He was cold.

It was a strange thing, what the severe cold could do. He did not realize this at first, due to a lack of hypothermic androids in the database, but apparently, a supreme drop in temperature could cause an android’s senses to shut down, such as taste, feeling, sight, and hearing. Nines found that he had been on the verge of dipping into losing his sight. Fascinating. He briefly wondered if Elijah Kamski had tested the effects of overheating and underheating on androids before.

_“Nines?”_ Oh, hello Connor. Nines did not realize that he had accepted the interface, but he was glad that he did. It was nice to finally hear something again.

_ “I am here.” _ Nines responded through the interface. He could feel the worry in his brother’s voice, yet he did not feel guilt for it. He did not feel sorrow. He felt numb.

He was cold.

_“Nines… what happened out there?”_ Connor asked as he gently disrobed his younger brother. If Nines could hear Gavin, he was sure that he could pick up on some sort of inappropriate, crude joke. But he did not say anything. The detective simply took a bundle of blankets, wrapped within another bundle of towels. Nines wondered why Gavin had so many towels. Could it be because he had a lot of friends coming over, friends who slept in the same apartment as he did and regularly bathed themselves in here?

_ “My apologies, Connor.” _ Nines tried to smile up at his brother. He did not know whether he did not smile at all or if he failed at smiling.  _ “I just wanted to  _ ‘take a breather’ _ , as humans call it. I am alright now.” _

Connor’s frown deepened, yet he did not say anything. Well, he did not say anything to Nines through the interface. He said something, presumably to Detective Reed, as they both began patting him down with towels. Nines could feel his temperature slowly rising up, yet he still could not hear. That was alright. He was numb, and that meant that he did not have to feel anything.

He was cold.

_“Do you want me to go to the store to buy something for you to drink, or do you want Gavin to go?”_ Connor looked at him directly, his LED flickering between yellow and red. Oh no. Connor was upset. Nines hoped that he was not upset because of what Nines did. His brother should know that this just happened sometimes.

_ “I would like you to go.” _ Nines responded with as much warmth as he could muster  _ (which was not a lot). “I would like a quiet moment alone with Detective Reed, if that is acceptable.” _

_ “Do you want him to hold you?” _ __

Connor was really throwing the hard-hitting questions right now. If Nines was not so numb right now, he might have decided to deflect the question.  _ “If he is amenable to that.” _

Nines held out one of his hands in an offer to interface, or at least he tried to lift one of his arms in order to find perches on Connor’s arm. Connor caught his arm and accepted the interface. The RK900 sent all of the memories from the past few days, the way that he and Gavin had talked, how it had changed over the course of five days, and then the kiss. Nines, despite not feeling anything at the moment, was able to send through the feelings that he associated with that memory. Love, warmth, hope. And then shock, repulsion, disgust.

His predecessor flinched at the emotions and sent some reassurance that Gavin did not mean that. That Gavin actually cared for him, that Connor, Hank, and Sumo cared for him. He felt that he was supposed to be reassured by this fact, but he only felt numb. 

_ For now,  _ Nines thought to himself. He knew that eventually, he would go back to feeling. He would have to face the detective's anger and resentment towards him for wanting the touch, however brief that may be, but 'why not?', he decided.

Connor stood up and said a couple of words, which Nines was beginning to tune back into. He did not care to try to decipher what they meant. Gavin had responded, with Nines only catching the end of his statement.

"... know I’m an asshole but I’m not  _ that  _ much of an asshole.”

“No, I meant… I meant that you stayed close to him. Physical contact tends to help in times like these.” Connor clarified, looking to Nines for confirmation. Nines sent a ping in his direction.

“I don’t think he’d like me too much.”

_ "Incorrect." _ Nines sent to Connor through their mindlink, still not trusting the state of his voice box. He flashed his LED a blaring red, yet he could not find it in him to keep it up for more than a fraction of a second.  _ "Tell him what I want." _

“I know he will. He’s been wanting this for a while. Just, please.”

Gavin looked at him, and Nines tried his best to arrange his features to show sincerity. The human detective sighed, before heading on over to the couch and positioning himself so that Nines laid down on him. Nines could feel the detective's heartbeat, stuttering occasionally yet still present, a force that grounded him to this world. He wondered… he wondered if Gavin actually did care for him. An interesting thought.

_ "Tell him I said thank you, Connor. Please." _ Nines sent through their mental link. Connor happily obliged, even using Nines's voice. Gavin seemed like he noticed something odd about the way Connor said it, yet Connor already left.

After a few tranquil minutes, Gavin's heart rate began to slow, and soon enough, the human fell asleep, with Nines in his arms. Nines began to think about it. If Gavin did not like him, why would he let himself be vulnerable in his presence? Why would he willingly fall asleep with the person he hated in his arms? Nines did not understand.

He was cold, yet warming up.

Nines stayed still in the quiet of Gavin's apartment, fearing that if he moved a fraction of an inch that Gavin would wake up and push him off. Connor had arrived, carrying some microwave safe thirium in a paper bag. Nines did not want to move.

_"It's alright if you don't want to get up just yet, but you have to drink something. Your thirium levels have depleted from…"_ Connor sent Nines a look of guilt. Nines felt even guiltier.

_ “I’m alright, Connor.”  _ Nines reassured his brother, sending the little feelings of warmth and reassurance that he could muster through their interface. Connor sent him a GIF of a crying cat which got a snort out of him and an eye roll. Connor lit up at seeing this and carefully placed a hand on Nines’ shoulder.

_ “Are you planning on staying here?” _ Connor asked, looking at Gavin and then back at Nines.

Nines felt the warmth in his chest and his thirium pump stutter at the implications. He smiled at Connor, a real one, tears pricking at his eyes.  _ “For as long as possible.” _

Connor nodded, returning his smile, before squeezing his shoulder in reassurance. After a few moments, Connor went back to the precinct to actually do their jobs, and Nines felt the warmth of a furry cat leap onto him. He gently reached out a hand to stroke the cat, who sniffed at it before settling on his chest and allowing himself to be pet. Nines smiled once more, taking in the nice atmosphere of Gavin’s apartment, and he hoped, he prayed to whatever deity was out there, that this wouldn’t be the last time that he’d be in this position.

In Gavin’s apartment. In Gavin’s company. In Gavin’s arms. Safe.

He was warm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't have the next chapter of this written, so if there's no update next week, you know why, yeET!! *dabs out the window*


	10. Gavin Reed is Getting There

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin tries to connect with Nines once more. He kinda succeeds.

As Gavin woke up, he came to notice a few details. Not big details, just little details that he was content at just acknowledging, then going back to whatever he was doing.

The first thing he noticed as he opened his eyes was that he was at his apartment. He knew that he was supposed to be at work right now, in fact, he remembered that he  _ was  _ at work, for the briefest moment, but something caused him to go home. The next thing that he noticed was that there was a nice weight pressed against his body. He could tell that the weight was vaguely humanoid, having two arms wrapped around his neck and two legs tangled with his own, and he appreciated that. It felt like it’s been ages since someone held him like this. Like he was someone worth holding. Gavin revelled in the touch, leaning into the warmth that the other body gave him.

The final thing he noticed was that the warmth was coming from Nines.

He flinched instinctively, the android rousing up from sleep mode and frantically trying to escape Gavin’s grip. Gavin tried to hold onto Nines, tried to say something to ease his mind, but found that all he didn’t need to say anything. He held Nines’s head close to his own, feeling his fake breathing slow and his body grow less tense, all until Nines collapsed into Gavin’s hold. They laid there like that for a few more moments, before Nines looked up into Gavin’s face, a myriad of questions in his eyes.

“Why?" Nines settled for instead.

"I dunno." Gavin responded as he raked a hand through Nines's hair. "I just need you right now."

A strange sort of silence enveloped the two of them, and Gavin noted that this silence was reminiscent of the quiet when Gavin first attempted to invite Nines out for drinks. It was awkward and tense, Gavin wanting nothing but to break the silence by saying something, yet something holding him back. He tried to get some words to come out, but only succeeded in letting a grunt out in frustration, burying his head into Nines’ shoulder. 

Nines gave his head two gentle pats, before getting up and ripping himself away from Gavin’s grip. The human detective tried to reach for him, but a stark red flash of his LED made the detective snatch his hands back. Gavin missed the warmth that the android gave him, his entire body reeling from the difference in temperature as he wondered if he somehow managed to fuck things up for himself.

Again.

The human sighed as he rubbed his face, looking briefly at Nines to try and gauge how he’s feeling right now. The look he saw on Nines’s face was something he’d seen only a couple times. Frustration and confusion. Confusion as to what and why this is happening, frustration at Gavin’s lack of a satisfying answer. Gavin sort of felt bad, but not bad enough to tell him more.

They just sat there, looking anywhere else but each other, arm's length apart.

"I don't understand." Gavin turned to Nines, sitting hunched forward, his LED a bright amber as he fiddled with the drawstrings of his hoodie. "After our kiss at the bar, I thought you hated me. I thought that you were disgusted with me. But now...? I... I don't know what to think, Gavin."

"Yeah." Gavin nodded, letting out a low chuckle. Cyberlife's finest android, with god knows how many processors and the ability to think quicker than a hummingbird could flap its wings, not knowing what to think? That's gold. "Me neither, tin can."

A few beats of silence laid among them, but it was somehow lighter than before. Gavin's mind flashed back to the one time that Nines called him babe, leaving a certain longing for the times when Gavin didn't fuck things up. He sighed and looked away from Nines, extending his hand out in Nines's direction.

An offering. A message. One that said 'I'm here for you'.

A few more moments of the nicer quiet, and Nines took his hand. The android's grip on his hand tightened, Gavin gave back a reassuring squeeze before he rubbed his thumb absentmindedly on the back of Nines's palm. He heard Nines sigh, and decided 'eh, fuck it, an explanation isn't gonna fucking kill me'.

"Look." Gavin breathed out, not sure of himself but y'know what? He was gonna tell Nines whatever he could. "I'm not disgusted with you. Never was. You just... you just fuckin'... surprised me is all."

He turned to look at Nines, who was looking at him attentively, his LED spun a nice blue before shifting back to the processing yellow.

"I'm just... there were so many goddamn feelings at the time, I didn't fuckin' know which one to focus on, and the moment you kissed me I just... it was too much, y'know? Like a swarm of bees. Too many of 'em, attacking you all at once. You want it to stop, but you don't know how." Gavin sighed as he leaned back into the couch, rubbing his eyes with the hand that wasn’t being held by Nines.

"I know." Nines muttered quietly after a few moments. He fidgeted with the drawstrings a little more, averting his gaze. "That's why I went to the roof. I needed the rain to make me numb."

"Why?" A loaded question. So many why's, condensed into one, giving the android the choice to pick which one he wanted to answer, because who was Gavin to question him? Gavin Reed was just an asshole who talked too much and said the wrong things, did the wrong things to the wrong people, to the point where everyone around him got hurt.

He shook his head and looked at Nines, whose LED was spinning yellow-yellow-red-yellow. Gavin simply let the silence sit in between them, his brain finally catching up to the android’s reaction. 'Why'. It was only one word, yet it seemed to have put mountains on the android's shoulders. Nines sank down further into the couch, looking Gavin in the eyes once before turning away again. He remained quiet for a few more moments, leaving Gavin to believe that there was no answer. Maybe there wasn't one that Nines knew would satisfy him. Maybe there just wasn't an answer at all. Eventually, Nines spoke up.

"I don't know." Nines pried his hand away from Gavin's, the human missing the touch already. "I just wanted to stop feeling again."

"Again?" Gavin sat up straighter, looking to Nines with concern on his face. "What do you mean again? Have you done this before?"

Nines snorted as if there was something funny with the situation. "How do you think Connor knew what was happening?"

Gavin's brows furrowed, thinking about what the fuck Nines just said. When did that happen? Gavin was a detective, he knew how to connect dots and shit. He thought about the sudden change of desks, and Connor’s insistence on staying with Nines for a few weeks. At first, Gavin chalked it up to Nines’s sudden attitude change in which he didn’t fucking talk to anyone, but then he wondered, why did that happen? Something had happened during the week before Nines changed, and now that Gavin knew  _ what  _ it was, it didn’t make him feel better. 

Gavin looked at Nines, seeing the feigned indifference as his LED spun yellow-red-yellow-yellow-red, and took a deep breath. "Nines. Babe. That is not okay."

The android didn't respond, he just looked at Gavin for a few seconds, then turned away. Gavin squinted at him, before he turned back to Gavin with a look of resignation. Nines sighed, muttering quietly. “I know. But what else could I do? There isn’t much that could calm me, especially when I am in such a state.”

Gavin looked down at the ground, not knowing what to say. What could he have said anyway? It’s not like he knew what the best coping mechanisms were. No, all he knew was how to push people away and the best ways of self-destruction. So he didn’t say anything, he just nodded and let the silence stay between them, not quite suffocating but not quite easy to breathe in either. Nines pulled his hand away, and this time, Gavin didn’t stop him. After a few moments, Nines stood up and walked towards the door.

Gavin stood up as well, looking at Nines with confusion and if there was a tinge of hurt on his face, neither of them mentioned it. “You leaving?”

“Yes. I’m… I am going to go back to Lieutenant Anderson’s house. Thank you for letting me stay here, Gavin.” Nines bowed his head and trod towards the door.

Gavin watched him as he shucked off Gavin’s jacket, folding it carefully and placing it in front of him. The human detective sighed and muttered so lowly that he could barely hear it himself, but apparently loud enough for Nines to pause his actions.

“I want you to stay here. With me.”

Nines paused for a brief moment, one hand at the door. Slowly, he moved towards Gavin, stopping just before he reached him, head hung low and avoiding eye contact. Gavin reached out a hand towards Nines, the android staring at it before taking it. The human detective took his hand and led them both to the couch, sitting them down there. After a few more moments of tender hand-holding, Gavin looked up at Nines, seeing only adoration and hesitance in the android’s cool blue eyes.

“I’ve done some things in my life that I regret,” Gavin found himself saying, “I regret not taking college seriously. I regret pushing away the people I loved when they just tried to help me. I regret hurting you so much. But the one thing I don’t regret was getting to know you.”

Nines’s brows furrowed, still not looking at Gavin, his LED spinning a constant stream of yellow. Gavin took a deep breath, he sighed as he gently rubbed his thumb against Nines’s cool plastic skin. Huh. He didn’t even notice that his partner’s synthskin had faded. He let himself smile, seeing that as a sign of vulnerability. Cyberlife’s most intimidating android, built to destroy other androids with ease, allowing himself to be vulnerable in his human partner’s presence? Classic.

“I was the absolute worst to you, and I know that the thing at the bar just… happened so fast. I didn’t even process what happened until a few minutes after you left. But I… don’t hate you. I was just…”

Memories of his past relationships quickly flashed through his mind, a few key memories popping through his mind. His breathing quickened, his heart pounding against his ribcage. Why was he still feeling like he was about to die? He was sure that he’d been over this a couple years back. Then again, he never really got past it, he just repressed the memories and the thoughts he associated with them.

The human shook his head, trying to collect his thoughts. He didn’t want to think of his past relationships, so he just focused on Nines. The android breathed slowly, Gavin syncing his breath slowly. He closed his eyes, opening them only to see Nines’s LED a concerned red. Gavin let out a bitter laugh, before looking away from Nines, only noticing now that Nines still grasped his hand tightly with both of his own. 

“I’ve experienced a ton of shit in the past, some that I still can’t bring myself to talk about. But like… I’m a huge piece of shit. I know that. I just…” Gavin looked into Nines’s cautious yet curious eyes, smiling at him sadly. “I don’t want you to make a mistake that you’d regret.”

Nines only looked away from him, his LED now spinning a processing yellow. Their hands were still clasped together, neither of them able to let go, but they stayed there. After a few moments, Nines turned to face him, his features soft and hesitant, but it was headstrong. “I don’t regret wanting you, Gavin. I only regret that I took it too fast.”

Gavin moved forward to touch Nines’s face, the android slowly leaning into the touch. “I’m sorry. But we can start over, if you want. Try to let things take their course, and see where it leads us?”

“And what if it leads us apart?”

“Then that’s what happens, I guess.” Nines fell silent at that, his LED pulsing red for a couple moments but reverted back to the calm blue that Gavin found he loved. Gavin moved in and hugged Nines, sinking in deeper into his partner’s chest as he hugged back.

The room was quiet, but not the uncomfortable kind. It was like the nice calm after the storm that ravaged the entire town. In the aftermath of the storm that was the events of the previous week, Gavin found himself calm for once. Not worrying about anything, not about the cases, not about the lack of evidence, not about him losing control over his life.

For the first time in a long while, Gavin felt warmth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh hey, I'm also a writer for the Reed900 Reverse Big Bang, so if I suddenly stop updating, that _might_ be part of the reason why
> 
> Anyway, stay awesome, stay safe, and for fuck's sake wear your goddamn masks whenever you're outside, m'dudes!!


End file.
